


The informant: Judgement confidant

by necroalx



Series: The Informant [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Betrayal, Child Abuse, F/M, Human Trafficking, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Organized Crime, Sisterhood, Sisters, Slow Romance, Video Game Mechanics, Violence, a little of Daddy Niijima Backstory, envy - Freeform, friendly sparrying, mention of slavery, no love triangle but heavy emotions, shumako
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25752643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/necroalx/pseuds/necroalx
Summary: A reworked vision for the Judgement Arcana confidant for Sae Niijima in P5, remaking the events of her confidant in a new fashion (Similar to Goro Akechi's new confidant scenes in Persona 5 Royal). We follow the developments of a what if Sae Niijima forged a confidant relationship with the protagonist early on in the story, before he was captured and interrogated by her. What changes could this bring to the overall story and how would this affect a certain relationship growing in the background.Using the game's dynamics, Sae's confidant also brings new skills to the table.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Niijima Sae, Amamiya Ren & Niijima Sae, Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira & Niijima Sae, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto & Niijima Sae, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist, Niijima Sae & Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: The Informant [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868140
Comments: 24
Kudos: 76





	1. Rank 1: Intimidation

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story about two sisters...  
> For me, Atlus dropped the ball, Sae deserved a new confidant as well. I'm not really salty about it though, but I couldn't help myself to imagine the potential behind such a thing. So I had to write this, I hope you are interested in this journey, as I dive back into writing after over a year of absence, hopefully this time finishing not only this story but all I've left behind floating in a incomplete limbo.

She opens the door, and a gut-wrenching feeling of betrayal fills her soul.

It was him, it was really him sitting in the middle of that dark room, his face filled with bruises and wearing that same Shujin uniform she remembers vividly.

Why? Why does it have to be him of all people?

_ ‘See father?’ _

An echoing voice in her head speaks, filled with disdain and bitterness. 

_ ‘It’s always the same… this is where your justice takes you.’ _

She bites her lip, and finally takes a step forward into the darkness. She had a job to do, and it was going to be a long night.

**Event 1:**

**May 7:**

**Song: Beneath the mask**

After Ren comes back from mementos for the first time.

A new cutscene during the night. Sae Niijima was sitting at the counter in leblanc and Sojiro was walking on his way out to the store.

“Good timing!” he says to Ren. “I’ll be leaving the store for a while, please make sure Miss Niijima here gets attended properly. Understood?”

Ren nods.

“It seems you really are working here as a part timer.” Niijima says. Ren remembers their first encounter back when she first appeared in front of the boy as he was on his way to sell Kamoshida’s medal. He walks behind the counter, already wearing his apron.

Sae takes a little sip of her coffee.

“May I ask your name?” she asks.

“Amamiya, Amamiya Ren.”

“I knew it…”

Ren is surprised by her reaction, she knew his name already?

“I’ve been keeping tracks on that man, a few months ago he qualified as a civilian parole officer, probably just to get some extra money.” She spoke in an uninterested tone, not even making eye contact. “And then just a month ago he supposedly started taking care of a young man in probation… that’ll be you. Am I right?”

Ren doesn’t respond, but Niijima notices all his senses are on high alert. This made her chuckle for some reason.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a dangerous person. I am not interested in your case whatsoever. To think that man actually makes you work here. That’s kind of funny.”

She takes one last sip of her coffee. Ren notices the elegance in her movements, he’s been noticing this things more and more as days go by, maybe is his phantom thief training, maybe his thanks to his third eye, but he notices things through people’s mannerism, things he usually didn’t noticed before, things he didn’t care for before.

In this woman’s case, to him it felt like every movement was a calculated effort. But that couldn’t be could it? How could a person live like that all day and night?

“That’s a good flavor.” She says before standing up.

“I’ll be leaving now, give Sakura-san my thanks.” With that Sae Niijima leaves the store into the night.

Soon after Sojiro comes back with a bag of groceries.

“Hmm she left already?” he asked, Ren simply nodded again.

“Did that woman ask you anything strange?” Sojiro asked while heading back towards the refrigerator.

_ >“What do you mean?” _

_ >”About what?” _

“Uh, nothing, forget I said anything.”

“Hey by the way.” Sojiro stops Ren from going back to the attic.

“Have you been eating much? My calculations haven't been adding up lately. Do you have any idea why?”

_ >No idea  _ __

_ >Morgana makes midnight snacks. _

_ -“No idea”: _ 0 confidant points

“Playing dumb huh?” Sojiro says.

_ -“Morgana has midnight snacks”: 1 confidant point _

“How would a cat open the fridge?”

With that said, Sojiro gets a text message.

“Hmph. Go ahead and clean the dishes, we’re closing soon.”

**Event 2: June 6** **th**

**Song: Beneath the mask.**

_ Another visit, a day after Madarame’s confession. _

The TV at Leblanc is replaying Madarame’s confession. Ren is cleaning the dishes, while Sojiro is serving some coffee to the ashen haired woman in the counter.

“…” Sae Niijima was looking at the television with some sort of displeasure written in her face.

_ ‘the suspect has no recollection of his actions and a full psychiatric evaluation will…’ _

“Hmmm.” Sojiro ponders to himself. Niijima brings his attention to him.

“Sakura-san, what do you think of these recurring mental shutdown cases we’ve been seeing in the news lately?” She asks bluntly.

Sojiro’s eyes went wide.

“Such a straight out question all the sudden.” He says.

“Well, I have my reasons to be interested in those cases.” Niijima will not press further as the man didn’t respond immediately, maybe she could try asking the next person in the room to provoke another reaction.

“What about you young man?” Niijima looks at Ren, who’s still cleaning the dishes “What do you think of these strange events?”

“He-“ Sojiro tries to interlude. This was exactly what she wanted, Sojiro’s reaction meant there was something he didn’t want to happen right now, she just needed to find out what it was.

“I’m pretty sure this young man is capable of answering on his own, are you not?” Niijima cuts him short. Her tone was polite, yet pressuring, never taking her eyes away from the teenage boy.

_ >I don’t care. _

_ >They happen. _

_ >No point in dealing with it. _

“Huh, I didn’t expect that response.” An amused Niijima says.

“He’s just a student after all,” This time Sojiro is allowed to cut their exchange. “He has other worries compared to adults like us.”

“I see, that makes sense. I apologize for asking you such a question.” She says to Ren as she stands up.

“Thanks for the coffee.”

Niijima leaves.

-

“Geez.” Sojiro says while rubbing the back of his neck.

_ >Cute isn’t she? _

_ >Why is she asking that stuff? _

_ -Cute isn’t she?: _ 2 Sojiro points

Sojiro smiles mildly.

“Heh, don’t get fooled by that kind of thing, she seems to have an agenda of her own.”

“She may be quite the beauty, but you have to be careful about those types. Who knows what she’s after.”

_ -“Why is she asking that stuff?”:  _ 0 points

“Who knows, that kind of woman only seems to care about getting their way in life, it can get pretty scary getting involved with someone like her.”

Ren finishes cleaning the dishes, he still has the night free, but not for long, as someone wishing to hang out with him has just sent him a text message….

**Event 3:**

**June 30: Niijima residence:** _(event triggered by finishing Kaneshiro’s palace)_

**Song: Days of sisters.**

Makoto Niijima has joined the Phantom Thieves, and by now they’ve finished Kaneshiro’s palace and are waiting for his confession.

Intriguingly enough during those difficult times, Sae Niijima shows up at home again. It’s been a few days since the last time the two sisters were together, the last time being Sae having an outburst over Makoto bringing up their father during dinner.

“I’m home.” Sae says as she walks towards her room.

“Sis, your food is getting cold”. Makoto says from the kitchen, implying she was about to serve dinner, she was aware her sister was coming home since Sae had texted her beforehand. But Sae didn’t seem happy for some reason.

“Hmmm.” Sae massaged her frown with her fingers.

“Sis?” Makoto asks.

“I told you I would be eating out from now on, you’re wasting ingredients here.” The older Niijima says.

“Oh, sorry sis, I-I…”

“Forget it.” She doesn’t allow her to finish. “I’m just here to pick something up. I’ll be heading back soon, did you charge my laptop as I asked you?”.

“Yes…”

“Good.”

“…” Makoto sits on the table alone, and prepares to eat her dinner by herself, just like any other day.

“Actually…” But Sae stops as if remembering something.

“Yeah?”

“Is it true your school has enlisted a problematic student?” Sae asks bluntly.

“Huh!?” Makoto wasn’t expecting this question.

“One with a record for assault, a second year. I think.”

“I… yes I’ve heard of him.” Makoto says shyly.

“Amamiya-kun, is it?”

Makoto’s eyes went wide, so she knew even his name by now? This was not good.

Makoto worried that her sister could somehow find out about her involvement in this new life she has chosen as a vigilante. Could she be already this ahead of them?

Sae obviously doesn’t approve of the Phantom thieves' existence and methods, but Makoto was not expecting for her sister to be aware of the existence of someone like Ren, who happens to be the leader of such a band.

A boy who looks, acts and trails through daily life as someone completely unremarkable and even lethargic at times, when in reality he was anything but.

If her sister was up on his “act”, this was definitely not good.

“… Yes.” Makoto simply said, doing her best to hide her panic.

“I see, it’s really him then.” Sae starts musing to herself, bringing her fingers as if holding her chin, such a Sae thing to do from Makoto’s perspective.

“You know him?” the younger sister finally asks.

“He is a part timer in a shop I frequent.” Sae comments indifferently.

“I see.” Makoto wonders what this shop could be, was it Leblanc? She was there only for a few hours when they picked Kaneshiro’s treasure with everyone else, but she didn’t know the boy worked there or what his relationship was with that shop, at least not yet.

They weren’t that close yet so she could just ask him about his life like that. Especially not after all she put them through the past weeks.

Maybe he could just be working somewhere else. Coincidences like that can happen after all.

“How is he?” Sae asks, cutting away her sister’s thoughts “Does he give you any trouble?”

“N-no, not at all. He’s actually doing quite well in his exams last time I’ve checked…”

“Is that so?” for some reason Sae was intrigued, this boy is definitely more than what he’s showing, at least for Makoto to be aware of something like that. It made sense in a way, Makoto was a student council president after all, she could have been tasked to follow the boy’s progress by the school. Such are the duties of someone in that position. And yet, it seems her instincts were telling something, but she wasn’t sure what it could be yet.

“Yes,” Makoto continued. “It’s commendable actually, considering he was one of the victims of Mr. Kamoshida too.” She had to try to do her best to make him look as a victim too, that way any suspicion she could have over the boy could fade away. So Makoto appealed to have her sister sympathize with his situation somehow, maybe that way she would lose interest in him.

_ ‘Victims… What are those victims to sis?’ _

But that has to do.

“Really?” Makoto realizes then that she has just done the opposite, her sister was already interested in this boy for some reason she wasn’t aware of, and she just made things worse.

“Y-Yes,” she has no choice but to continue now, before Sae starts asking her other questions, that could only lead to her sister pressing on and cornering her for answers as she always does. So it’ll be better if she takes control of the answers she could be looking for beforehand.

At this point, damage control was all Makoto could do.

“Apparently Mr Kamoshida leaked his record in school, so the other students became quite distant from him. He seems to be doing well regardless of that though.” She used the truth. There was no point in trying to fool her when her attention was focused on her words like this.

“I see, that’s interesting.”

There was a short pause, Makoto was as intrigued as Sae was with this boy.

‘Sis is asking me about him, why?’

It’s a weird turmoil of soft but troublesome feelings inside her. She should be happy her sister is asking her questions? Is she relevant enough for Sae to ask her about something now all the sudden, but… then she started sensing an unfamiliar feeling of disapproval growing inside her for some reason she didn’t understand.

“Sis?”

She felt like she needed to interrupt her sister’s thoughts too, such a thing was pointless. Sae seems to have made up her mind about something. But what else could she do? Makoto didn’t want her sister to be thinking about that boy right now.

“Eh?” Makoto looks down at her plate, why was she thinking such a thing right now? Then she felt the pressure of her sister’s eyes aiming at her.

“Finish up cleaning the dishes and save that extra plate for your lunch tomorrow or something. Pay more attention Makoto, food ingredients aren’t free.” Sae said, with a stoic and tired look in her face.

“Yes, I will.” Makoto answered in a monotonous tone.

The older Niijima went back to her room, without even acknowledging her sister’s words.

“…”

Makoto was left with her own thoughts again.

**Event 5:**

**The day after Kaneshiro’s confession. July 9:**

**Song: Suspicion**

Early in the morning, Sae was walking a familiar road she hasn’t done in a while, she was standing in front of Shujin Academy’s gates. She shouldn’t be here today. But something was bothering her. It bothered her greatly.

She had pulled an all-nighter just the day before, the reason being was Junya Kaneshiro, the boss of one of the most dangerous crime syndicates in Tokyo has suddenly turned himself in to the police. The amount of paperwork she had to fill, for a case she didn’t even resolve herself, it was infuriating.

But there was nothing she could do about it now. And the thing that was bothering her… was not just that.

_ ‘I hope she hasn’t fallen under their influence.’ _ Niijima muses as she watches the school entrance. She left home early today.

The words of her little sister came back to her the moment she heard about the “capture” of this criminal.

_ ‘Are the phantom thieves just?’ _

Such nonsense.

But, the existence of these individuals was undeniable at this point. They had made their influence in the crime world pretty clear after all. And things are starting to become a lot more difficult to handle now, especially since she was barely making time for her own personal investigations about the mental shutdowns.

Sae Niijima’s instincts were usually on point, and her instincts were telling her to be here today, the place the phantom thieves were brought up to the public eye for the first time. The School where a pederast teacher confessed his own crimes after a supposed sudden change of heart. A change of heart that was credited to these mysterious Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

She was now in charge of investigating the case, well, not officially, not yet. But if there was any place to do some field work investigation, this was as good as any place to start.

The thing is…

“Sis, what are you doing here?”

**Sae Niijima Confidant:**

**Arcana: Judgement**

Makoto found her sister staring at the entrance. As if waiting for something. As soon as her attention was brought to the small brunette teen, she realized she wasn’t alone.

Alongside her, was none other than Shijin’s own now infamous delinquent, Ren Amamiya. He was two heads taller than her sister even though he was supposedly one year younger. In fact, the boy was probably just as tall as she was. It was the first time she saw him wearing that uniform too, and he wears it in such a practical way. Makoto on the other hand didn’t wear the proper uniform, unlike this boy who seems to be following the school dressing code to a T, for a “delinquent”, this was unexpected.

The contrast between the two was nothing remarkable though, but…

_ ‘Where are they perhaps walking together to school? Do they get along this well?’ _

Sae shook her head disregarding such pointless thoughts, that’s not her reason to be here. What was her reason to be here?

This was certainly a good start. She needed something, she needed information. But there was no need for her to personally go inside this school, asking students about the past few months events. The police have already done that by now and it was of no use, another adult entering this world would only make these affected teenagers close themselves and run away like some prey escaping from some carnivore predator.

No, she had to find another way to get information.

She looked back at her little sister.

She was no use for her in this situation…. Of course.

Makoto only needed to focus on her studies, nothing more.

But…

“Makoto, go right ahead. I have business to attend to in your school.” She told her off as only a big sister could. At least from her perspective.

“Here? What is it?” But Makoto inquired back, an unusual sigh, she usually just does what she’s told after all.

“Just go, classes may not start any time soon but you have other responsibilities to attend, no? This has nothing to do with you.”

Sae didn’t notice the look on Makoto’s eyes, but her little sister's eyes were aiming at her intently.

“…” without saying a word, Makoto walked towards the school.

The boy with the frizzy hair started following her.

“Amamiya-kun?” but was stopped by the older Niijima.

“I would like to have a word with you, you remember me, right? I am Sae Niijima, I am a Tokyo district prosecutor, you’ve seen me at Leblanc before.”

Ren nods.

“Alright, follow me.” The walk just a few steps behind.

Ren and Sae were now inside a very familiar alley, the same alley he and his friends used once to infiltrate Kamoshida’s palace.

**Rank 1:**

**Song: Wicked plan**

“So, it seems there is more about you than just your record. I’ve heard about it from my sister, and I’ve investigated your case. You’re acquainted with her right? Makoto Niijima, she’s the student council president after all.”

Ren simply nods, taking her his time to absorb her words.

“Well, this makes things easier, seeing that your relationship with your probation officer seems to be quite formal by now, I would think you’ve gained the trust of that man somehow, have you not?”

_ >“I would hope so.” _

_ >”He likes me.” _

“You are a young man of few words, yet you are concise and go straight to the point, you also seem to be a good listener. Good, I feel like you can be of use to me after all.”

_ >”I don’t want to spy on him.” _

_ >”He’ll kick me out if he finds out about talking behind his back.” _

“I wouldn’t ask you such a thing, spying on your parole officer could affect your sentence, and I don’t want that.”

“Then…”

“You seem to be acquainted with Akechi-kun too, I saw you two exchanging arguments on that tv show a few weeks ago.”

“…” Ren offered no reaction, he was aware such a thing could happen. It wouldn’t be strange if many people who knew him could’ve also coincidentally seen that tv show.

“He’s also a quite thorough young man. You remind me of him quite a lot, although his overly talkative nature can make conversations a little annoying at times.” Sae brings her palm to her face as if trying to shrug off some bothersome memories. “If only your circumstances were more favorable…” Sae laments.

“Hmm, how about we make a deal then.” Then a sudden request brings the boy’s full attention back to the young woman.

“I would like to trust you with something.” Niijima raises her finger in a declarative way. “It’s about gathering information about the happenings in Shujin Academy, I need you to report some things to me when I inquire about events that could be happening at this school. Rumors, people reaching out to students, maybe even information about some specific students from time to time. I’m sure your record being public makes your daily life difficult, but giving you a purpose could help you understand what’s more important here.”

“In exchange, I could teach you some things about the legal system, that way you could probably find multiple means to overcome your probation and fully reintegrate yourself as an useful member of society again once this is all over.”

>“That doesn’t sound very possible…”

>”How would you do that?”

“Oh, you don’t believe me?” Sae responds, expecting such incredulity from this boy. Any smart person would second guess such a sudden offer after all. She was prepared. “I am a woman that’s barely past her mid-twenties, yet I managed to become a full-fledged prosecutor with a respectable record in the SIU, and I had more field experience than most of my male colleagues that double my age. I’m sure you understand the difficulties of reaching such positions these days for someone like me. I am quite capable of getting away with a lot of many things.” Sae proudly affirms.

“I could make things easier for you in the future too, I won’t be able to erase your record of course, but seeing your attitude and driven focus, I can see you are not easily discouraged”.

“…” Ren was not blind, he knew there was something about Sae that could become an unnecessary risk for his cause and his companion’s sake too. He knew that this could just be her trying to expose him, maybe she even already figured out his identity. Maybe, but even if that’s not the case, allying himself with such a character could inevitably lead to such a fate.

Yet…

“What do you think? Is not a bad deal, is it?”.

_ ‘Niijima-san is offering me to be his informant.’ _ Ren thinks to himself ‘ _ In exchange she could help me clean my record as a criminal, my future, any dream of having a career after finishing highschool. I’ve given up those since I came here, yet this talented woman seems to see some hope in me… somehow.’ _

_ >”Sounds good to me.” _

_ >”I accept!” _

_ >”I won’t let you down” _

“I see, promising indeed.”

Sae Niijima displayed a smile, a smile that felt really honest and fresh. Ren notices the nature of this woman may not be as intimidating as he originally thought. An evil person couldn’t have such a bright smile after all. And at the end of the day, being a teenage boy, he couldn’t help but to feel charmed by the elegant vision displayed in front of him.

Meanwhile, behind the glass doors inside Shujin Academy’s entrance, Makoto is watching the developments from a distance.

“…”

\----

**_Flash forward to the interrogation room:_ ** ****

**_Song: Interrogation Room_ **

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Sae Niijima hits the table, the noise echoes through the room. Her composure was gone.

Makoto, her little sister, the one she had taken care of for so long.

“This new ally you gained was Makoto!?”

How could she do this to her?

No, how could she not notice this?

>You already know the truth.

[>You’re clueless, huh?]

>“…”

“…” Sae had a hurt expression. Two betrayals in one night, she was not ready to confront this… any of this… why?

“That’s preposterous!” she returns to her seat.

“If what you’re telling me is true, was Makoto also running away from the police when you were arrested?”

“… Ask her yourself.” The boy said

“… Now that I think about it, She did start talking about the investigation from summer onward… and also…”

Sae comes to a realization.

No, she didn’t want to think through that. She returns her sight to the kid, he was not smiling, he was not showing any emotion whatsoever, an usual façade of his. But she knew, she knew he was full of himself right now. She knew him enough at this point… which means.

“Heh.”

An ironic smile shows on her face.

Yes… this boy was using the things she had taught him against her. Of course…

Sae takes a deep breath.

“Makoto aside,” She had to turn the tables back to her advantage, he used her name, her weakness to break her composure. If she didn’t take control back, this interrogation will go south pretty fast and she would end up with nothing once again. “You mentioned another important detail.”

She brings the black mask, another metaverse user. She clearly heard him mention this, Kaneshiro supposedly said this to them. It’ll make two times now, following Madarame also mentioning this supposed new party.

She formed a theory, maybe it was a pointless one, but could that missing faction be the actual perpetrators of the mental shutdowns?

At this point, she couldn’t clearly discard the phantom thieves being responsible for this, they already had a victim on their record after all. But if what this boy was saying is true, then the dates don’t add up. The mental shutdowns were happening way before this supposed band was formed… Again, only if what Amamiya was telling the truth.

“You could just be shifting the blame to another person, you know?”

_ >[“Believe what you want…”] _

The immediate answer shocked the prosecutor once again…

“Does that mean you’re placing your trust in me?”

“…”

“Then again, I am in direct charge of the investigation about the phantom thieves of hearts.”

She takes a moment, looking down to analyze the possibilities, but she had no time for that. She needed more information. And she happens to be interrogating her own informant… another irony to add to this eventful day.

“Very well…” Sae sighs in resignation. “I would like to continue with our deal then.”

Ren brings his eyes back to the prosecutor again.

“Seeing you already are taking advantage of the things I taught you back then, you’re handling this interrogation pretty well. I can’t help but to feel somewhat proud of that.”

“No matter how absurd it may seem. I will reevaluate my stance on believing you for now.”

“In return, speak the truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“Thus we will continue threatening our deal how we did back then. Is that acceptable?”

_ ‘I’ve renewed my deal with Niijima-san.’ _ Ren thinks to himself  _ ‘It seems her trust in me has recovered, I feel our bond has become deeper.’ _

_ I am  _ **_thou_ ** _ , thou art I _

_ Thou has acquired a  _ **_new_ ** _ bond _

_ It shall  _ **_become_ ** _ the wings of rebellion _

_ That  _ **_breaketh_ ** _ thy chains of captivity. _

_ With the birth of the Judgement persona, _

_ I have  _ **_obtained_ ** _ the winds of blessing that _

_ Shall  _ **_lead_ ** _ to freedom and new power… _ **** ****

**JUDGEMENT ARCANA RANK 1**

**Skill: [Intimidation]:**

**Chance to get enemy shadows affected by fear or forget status ailments at the start of a battle if they’re ambushed.**

\------

**_Flashback to Shujin entrance:_ **

Sae Niijima looks at her phone.

“I am going to be busy these days, but I’ll contact you. I would like you to give me information directly, so I would call you when I need you. For now, here’s my contact info….”

She exchanged phone numbers with the boy.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of info you can gather for me. Very well, until then.”

Morgana pops up.

“Man what a dangerous ally you just made, a prosecutor!”

“Then again it could be useful to have her on our side somehow, she may even be able to get us some useful information we could use during our heists!”

With that, Ren finally enters school.

**Post Rank event 1:**

Later that evening in leblanc.

Sae Niijima is calling.

“Hello, it’s me. I forgot to mention this, but it’ll be wise you don’t comment about our deal to your caretaker. I mean it for your own sake, he may get suspicious of you. Since for some reason that man doesn’t seem to trust me.”

_ >”It’s because you’re a suspicious one.” _

_ >”It’s because you’re scary” _

_ >”Maybe he has a crush on you.” _

_ -“It’s because you’re a suspicious one”: _ 2 points

“Oh? What an odd thing to say, it is true I am more direct that most people could be used to, but that comes from my line of work. So there’s not much I can do about it.”

_ -”It’s because you’re scary”: _ 1 point

“Am I now? Hehe, that’s good to know actually. It means I’m good at my job if I am able to scare a criminal like you.”

-” _ Maybe he has a crush on you.”: _ 0 points

“Don’t be ridiculous, that old man may think he’s a lady’s man but he’s way past his prime. And he’s certainly not my type, so he shouldn’t get any ideas.”

“But I have to admit, for a quiet person, you’re a lot more direct than what I expected. Then again, your current position may have forced you to be like that, I can understand that. You are also a good listener. You don’t interrupt people when they’re talking and pay attention. That’s also a good alternative method for interrogations. You know? The good cop bad cop routine?”

“Who knows, maybe we both could learn something from this deal after all, I’ll be looking forward to seeing results from you.”

“Anyway, that was all, remember to do as I told and things will go well for you. Have a goodnight.”

Sae hangs up.

**Event Niijima residence:**

**Song: Days of sisters.**

Makoto was looking at the news. The image of Kaneshiro was on the screen.

To say things have been hectic recently would be putting it mildly. In three weeks she went from, blackmailing the most famous group of “criminals” known in japan in the current day to be blackmailed herself by the most dangerous mafia leader in town, to beat the crap out of the subconscious incarnation of that man’s inner desires to have him confess his crime and turn himself to the police. And now she was part of the group of phantom thieves she chased for so long. When the year started, she only focused on her studies, doing what everyone told her to do so she could get things done easily and be done with it. It was what she expected it’ll be like for the rest of her life, yet, it wasn’t until she started following that boy around town that she noticed how bad things were for her.

He had a record, his life was basically ruined, everybody at school was avoiding him and making up rumors about him. Yet, even when he didn’t belong anywhere, he managed to have that cocky smile on his face now and then, full of satisfaction and so sure of himself. She was sure that the boy underestimated her and that eventually brought his downfall to her once she recorded his friends basically outing themselves as the phantom thieves.

Yet, she was happy it was her who got to do that. She wouldn’t have awakened from that mediocre shell of a person's state of being she was living like if it wasn’t for them. They saved her, he saved her from that life. And from who knows how much.

The thoughts of exams, notes and fulfilling requests made by other adults were replaced by hopes and enthusiasm for change and a uncertain future for the first time. Makoto would think she was terrified of such a concept in the past, but now, it felt so liberating.

But at the same time, there was the thought of what to do with the aspects of her previous self still lingering inside of her? Then she hears a tired voice.

“…I’m home.” Sae enters the apartment, a drained expression on her face.

Makoto’s expression doesn’t change, yet she notices her sister’s emaciated state.

“Hi sis.” Makoto on the other hand had a cheerful tone on her voice, hoping she could transmit some of the energy to her sister.

“You look tired… is everything ok?” Makoto asks.

“Don’t worry about me. How about you Makoto?”

“Have you been keeping up with your studies?”

In a way it was unexpected. Makoto knew this was her sister’s way to make amends for things, diverting worries about her and –pretend to- be worried about her instead. And of course she could only do so asking about one thing.

“Yes, of course.” She gave a simple answer.

“Though… what is the point of studying?” Makoto finally voices the thing that was lingering in her head all day.

“… What do you mean?” Sae was pensive, why ask something like this now?

What was the point? She knew the answer her sister would give her beforehand. She has heard it so many times by now she became numb to it. Yet the new Makoto Niijima, hasn’t heard it yet. The one that is looking up to her future for the first time needs to hear it from her, one more time… so she’ll be sure.

“I was just wondering what would be waiting for me at the end. Even if I manage to push through tough entrance exams, I’m still thrust into a competitive society.”

_ ‘What else is there Sae, what else is there for you?’ _

“What else is there besides success? Don’t ask me such childish questions.”

There it was… Makoto was sure now, she wouldn’t find the answers from someone like Sae, not now. Maybe never. She should’ve known that all along, Sae was her own person, she lived her life as she has decided to do so. That’s something she owns and with pride, so… she should do the same somehow. It’ll be the last time Makoto would ever ask her sister about such things.

Makoto closed her eyes, then she went back to tv, ignoring her sister’s answer as if she hadn’t said anything at all. She wasn’t done, after all, how rare were the chances to dissect her sister’s behavior in such a clear headed manner as she is right now?

After all, Sae just admitted she still looked at her as just a child, so Makoto should take advantage of being underestimated once again.

“Isn’t this the man the phantom thieves sent a calling card for? I heard he confessed his crimes.”

Mentioning the phantom thieves and kaneshiro, she could get her sister’s input about the investigation, just to be sure how aware they are about them.

“Even the police couldn’t figure out why. It really… was out of nowhere.”

Ironically, Sae wasn’t noticing she’s being on the other end of an interrogation.

“This would only make sense if his personality changed… but that would be impossible.”

Makoto kept her composed face.

‘So they have no clue about us or our methods nor who we are, good.’

Sae was giving her information in the manner of casual talk.

Makoto couldn’t really hide her smile anymore, and her sister already knew about her views on the matter, so why not push forward? Why not get a proper answer of what her sister really thinks now that the justice of the phantom thieves is undeniable.

“Why does it matter?” Makoto turns back facing Sae. Her smile was gone but her tone couldn’t hide her enjoyment.

This, only that already was pissing Sae off again.

“The police still caught him in the end, right?” Makoto finishes.

Sae closes her eyes and looks away, doing her best not to shoot a glare at her little sister. Still aware of her last outburst, but she couldn’t really help herself. She was pissed.

“I had plans set for a promotion, but no one can take credit for his arrest now with that confession.”

Sae shook her head. And looked back to Makoto.

“… Not that a child would understand.”

That last unnecessary comment filled with frustration was the last thing Sae would say to her as she headed back to her room.

“So she was pursuing the case after all.”

Makoto was left alone again, but this time, she had many answers to think about it.

What was she to Sae? Just a child.

What was Kaneshiro to Sae? Just a prize.

What were his victims to Sae? Just casualties.

What were the Phantom thieves to Sae? An obstacle.

What was she really after?

“promotion… you’ve changed sis….” Makoto says to herself, narrowing her eyes. Disappointment filling her heart.

She grabbed her phone, looking down at the screen, the red eye logo app.

She tapped the screen….

Suddenly a shrieking fear filled her, she was looking for answers all day, she got them, she got enough of them… did she really need to do this?

“Sae…”

She couldn’t muster the courage to continue saying what was left of her sister’s name, her voice was breaking.

If her theory was right, if she happened to prove what her new comrades told her about palace owners and distortions right now, there wouldn’t be turning back.

She saw the image of her sister in her early fifteens holding her hand, smiling at her while talking to her in middle school. An image of her being held in her father’s arms and a bratty looking ashen haired girl sticking her tongue at her behind her dad’s back, mocking her in a playful manner. An image of Sae falling asleep alongside her while studying for her first year exams. An image of a younger Sae sitting in the dining room alone during a rainy night, crying all by herself…

She wasn’t ready to face such a thing...

Makoto puts her phone down and lets out a sigh.

Taking a look at the empty room, the so familiar loneliness, for the first time didn't feel so binding.

“But you know what sis?”

She kept talking in a low voice, as if keeping herself company. As if the new Makoto was talking to a teenage Sae Niijima sitting on the couch alongside her.

Her lips formed a gentle smile full of satisfaction at the image.

“I’ll be ok…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rank 1 achieved,  
> Description:  
> A local district prosecutor who is investigating the mental shutdown cases has shown interest in you (Ren) and has taken you under her wing as an "informant" but you fear she may has some ulterior motives behind her requests.
> 
> Hello! Thanks for reading!  
> I wanted to write this story for ages. Originally I wanted this to be part of a bigger story I was writing since last year, but since I started focusing in this more and more I decided it to be it's own separate thing, but as you may noticed, this will be part of a series now, with me wishing this could be a decent kick start for it.  
> I dunno if it has been done before but I wanted to give it my own take, so much that this is the story that brought me back to writing after over a year of absence (gee now I have to finish my other stories I left hanging, oof). But yeah, thankfully I finally seem to be getting out of my creative slump after a long sequence of stressful months. Hopefully things go well, I do really want to finish this story and I already have the second part finished as I post this so, yeah. Sae Niijima is one of my favorite characters, I understand her role in the story though and I don't want to deviant from that, ultimately I love Makoto as my favorite character in this game and her relationship with Sae is quite important to me for persona reasons. I do wish we could've seen more of them, so I plan to do it myself because, well that's what fics are for nay?
> 
> I also am keeping Ren very quiet, maybe more than I would've wanted but it's all for the sake of how he is in the game after all, all while still trying to keep his usual snarky attitude.  
> This series will follow a rank up system similar to the game's mechanic, with some extra stuff happening on the side to locate ourselves in certain points of the story. Also I will try to use as many characters as possible but I won't go overboard with it since I don't want it to go too unreal or OOC with things, since this is my intent to recreate her confidant as I would like it to be in game with the game mechanics and story set as limitations to what could happen. Of course I will take some liberties here and there, but don't expect me to go into AU territory with this. Although it may already be an AU no? Ain't all fics basically AU's anyway? D:  
> Cheers :)


	2. Rank 2: Food for thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter last monday and I legitimately just forgot to upload it I apologize! ^^;

*Ring* *Ring*

Sae Niijima is texting Ren Amamiya:

**Date: July/August Random**

**Leblanc’s Attic:**

Sae: “I’ve been having free some time lately”

Sae: “I would like to hear some of the things you could gather around Shujin during the past few days. “

Sae: “Would you happen to have some time this afternoon? I’ll invite you to dinner.”

Sae: “It’ll be conveyor belt food only though.”

Ren: “Sure I’ll go.”

Sae: “Great, meet you at the Ginza Line in 20 minutes.”

**Rank 2:**

**Song: Cooperation**

**Evening**

There was a large crowd of people eating at the Ganki conveyor belt restaurant.

“Hmm, this place seems fuller than what I’ve expected today.”

Sae looks around, from businessmen to one too few highschool students were sitting around them. Business hours and school were long over by now, so the kind of people who frequent these places at these hours are usually finishing a long journey of a day or just escaping from the trouble of having to cook.

“The food may be cheap, but the taste is good enough to give you energy for the rest of the day.”

Sae says as she was wearing a prideful badge, ‘the busy business woman that prefer sleepless working nights over healthy homemade meals’. Like if frequenting these kinds of restaurants were a testament to the hard worker class on their road to success, sacrificing any form of self-indulgence for the sake of practicality and results.

It was one of those “expected” things in their modern competitive society.

“Although it’s kind of late for that now.” Sae says to herself, implying maybe she should’ve skipped dinner altogether and just get some short sleeping hours. Because only she knows how much paperwork and meetings were waiting for her tomorrow morning.

_ ‘Niijima-san seems to have a disorganized eating schedule’ _ The young boy thought.

But on the other hand, Amamiya Ren can only notice this unexpected side of this thorough looking woman having such a disorganized lifestyle.

The stress displayed in the woman’s mannerism was very noticeable, at first Ren thought she was one of those people who lived with their hearts on their hands. So passionate and short tempered about work or her lifestyle. But her cold and incisive demeanor put forth yet another unexpected aspect of this woman Amamiya wasn’t expecting.

She seemed to be very faulty when it came to taking care of her own wellbeing.

In a way, the young boy felt somewhat guilty for wasting no time in passing judgment over a person he has just met this way. But at the same time,  _ ‘wasn’t she doing the same to me anyway?’  _ he thought.

_ “What’s with that face?” _

The curiosity on the boy’s face didn’t go unnoticed as the prosecutor could feel Ren’s eyes questioning her every move for a few seconds now.

Ren shakes his head looking away, hoping for the topic to be dropped just as fast.

“Come to think of it, do you eat well?” The irony of the question brought the boy’s attention to her words “I know you live in that coffee shop attic, but they only seem to serve curry in that place.”

An unexpected question. This time Ren gave himself time to think what answer he should give her.

_ >”I only eat curry” _

_ >”Please save me from curry hell!” _

_ >”I manage”. _

_ -“I only eat curry”: (no points) _

“That… doesn’t sound healthy, is that man really not giving you anything else? That could be reported as an abuse you know… although, there’s not much I could do about that…” Sae says.

_ -“Please save me from curry hell!”: (no points) _

“What? I-I am inviting you dinner now though, so I guess that’s something? Wait, are you joking?”

_ -“I manage”: (2 points) _

“I see, sounds like you’re capable of handling your own even without being paid much attention to, that’s admirable.”

With that Sae takes a quick drink of water, still having not laid a single bite of her food.

“Although given your circumstances, I should have expected as much.“ Sae says looking away. “Life is rough once you fall away from the system, that’s why those who don’t follow the rules get discarded for the sake of those who want to continue on living their lives in peace.”

Ren looked down at his plate. Those words, he has heard them so many times before, in different ways and from so many different people by now, from his parents, teachers, other family and even his current caretaker.

Yet, he felt numb to them by now. Just how he did about the fake rumors about him going around in Shujin, or Sojiro’s scolding whenever he came back home late.

Repeating something again and again doesn’t make it true. At least he hoped, but the world has a funny way to prove him wrong sometimes.

_ >”That’s tyrannical” _

_ >”That’s not fair” _

_ -“That’s tyrannical”: (2 points) _

_ -“That’s not fair”: (2 points) _

“Huh,” Sae didn’t expect him to even answer, but she didn’t brought her eyes to him, instead she just looked down at her plate and said…

“You sound like my father.”

There was an awkward pause as Ren watched her take a sip of her water.

“Which is an odd thing coming from a criminal.”

“…”

There it was, he knew such a comment was coming, especially given who he’s talking to. Regardless, a part of him was hoping he was wrong about this aspect of Sae Niijima could be, just passing judgment on him like that, how could she be so different to a certain someone he wondered.

He just kept his silence, but noticed the woman frown was agitated, as if she was reliving a bothersome memory.

“But I won’t really expect a criminal to understand.”

Now she was pushing it.

>”I am not a criminal.”

>”I did nothing wrong.”

>”…”

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care about the truth behind your case.” Just like that she dismissed anything he had to say. He had to expect this, after all, he knew she was ready for him to say anything like what he just said, yet, for some reason he couldn’t help himself.

“The only truth that matters is that you have an assault record, which means you absolutely are a criminal in the eyes of the law and society.” Sae continued without giving him the “pleasure” of bringing her eyes to him.

“That means that no matter what you think you did or not, at the end of the day your future is decided. That’s unless you continue to cooperate with me.”

He couldn’t deny there was a certain uncomfortable truth in her words, but now he came to realize something was coming from this. Amamiya had been reading a lot ever since he arrived in this city, becoming a more proactive person who had let him learn many things about justice and even the criminal world, one of those things being him being able to comprehend what was the role this woman was setting up for him.

He was going to be an informant… and informants were usually criminals, captured criminals, who are usually blackmailed by their captors to gain upper hands in their investigations.

If that were the case, that would mean that as one, he was just as useful as his information could get, and more importantly, he was completely disposable.

“Anyway, that’s not why a called you here.” It was then she crossed her arms and finally turned her head towards him. “Start talking about Shujin now.”

Sae’s tone changed into an interrogative one out of the sudden.

Taking a deep breath the boy started talking. He tells her how the Shujin students were being harassed by the mafia during the past month. He also mentions the events of how kids started smuggling drugs and money on certain parts of Shibuya, specifying even which alleys they used and the amount of “recruiters” that would approach students during broad daylight.

He mentions the two students he discovered and confessed the methods to him, also how they were blackmailed.

He avoids any mention of Makoto, as bringing her and how she was being blackmailed to intervene in such events could only bring more trouble to her, or even lead to her involvement with the Kaneshiro case and the phantom thieves if Sae bothered looking too much into it. And he felt it’ll be a big trouble if he “snitched” her to her big sister without warning her first.

“I see. That school doesn’t seem to get a break, Makoto did mention she knew about some rumors. But to think some students were already being victimized.” Sae brought her hand to her chin while assimilating the information the boy just told her.

He hoped he hadn’t told her too much to raise suspicions towards him or his allies, after all, it was her who asked him to gather such information.

“Thankfully I haven’t heard of any Shujin student being taken into one of that man’s horrible dungeons like in other cases…”

Sae had a shrug, maybe a chill ran down her spine as she relieved some sort of imagery she had tried to shield away from her memory.

What kind of things does a prosecutor see in their everyday jobs the boy wonders. After all, prosecutors are supposed to represent the general public’s side of justice and chase criminals for the wellbeing of society. Japanese prosecutors weren’t strange to field job like in many other countries, some would even do their own detective work alongside the police, if not commanding them directly in some cases, big cases…

She mentioned being involved in the Kaneshiro case before, that would mean Niijima was a high ranked prosecutor herself If she was put in the position to lead such important cases.

This bring the questions, a person who’s in charge to investigate and prosecute the worst kind of criminals, they must be more than just aware of all the sort of atrocities those kind of people commit over other human beings, after all, she must present those victims, their victimization and even sometimes the entirety of their tragic ordeal (if they were even alive) as evidence in a court of law… So, S _ ae _ knew about Kaneshiro’s dungeons, was she perhaps in contact with the victims of those slaving activities that the mob boss was in charge of?

‘A dungeon…’ It hit him then, that was the other side of the criminal world they haven’t had direct contact with. Of course they knew about the atrocities other kids of their age were going through, that was enough motivation in itself for them to get involved… but they had never seen it directly, they had never experienced “in the flesh”, the consequences in the real world and the true nature of evil. A life ruined, innocence taken away from the young by force, how can he even imagine…

No he had imagined it before, a nightmare… had they not made it in time… had they failed to change that pig’s heart… Makoto would’ve…

“Tch.”

Even though he kept his usual composure, and even if his eyes were hidden behind the shine of his glasses, his fist and the sound of the girth of his teeth gave him away. He was pissed, just a memory of hypotheticals were bringing back a feeling of impotence he brought upon himself during many sleepless nights until he and his allies were finally able to finish the job. Maybe it was a way for him setting himself to their goal, a masochistic mental training to avoid failing at all cost. After all he wasn’t strange to such things… he did the same with Madarame’s and Kamoshida’s cases too… Imagining scenarios in which failure became inevitable, it scarred him to some degree, but it became an effective mental tactic to feed his resolve, the problem was, getting rid of those now useless thoughts was not as easy after they fulfilled their goals.

Sae noticed this reaction, her eyes opened wide as she realized she may had said more than she needed a few seconds ago. Sae remembers she was talking to a minor

“Errr. But that’s over now, that man is behind bars now, his organization is the kind that becomes useless without their leader so they won’t be causing trouble for some time.”

But just like that, any heated thought disappeared from the boy’s mind, replaced by a puzzling look and confusion.

Did Sae just try to comfort him?

Maybe he was being too conscious about details tonight.

Niijima elegantly fixes a lock of hair behind her ear, a now familiar sight to Ren. It made him chuckle inside to notice such details.

Now he was definitely being too conscious.

“I see you were actually capable of finding out more than I expected, I must admit you have impressed me.”

Niijima tracked their conversation back on topic.

“I honestly was a little afraid you could get too involved because of my request, that you may become a victim of these criminals yourself because of me… but I believed you’ll be smarter than that, and I’m glad that seems to be the case…” She smiled honestly, was she relieved or proud? Ren couldn’t tell.

“You did it without being directly involved nor discovered… maybe you have a gift for being some sort of spy.” Now her mood seems to have lightened enough to make such a joke.

Ren chuckled.

>That sounds cool!

>I am phantasmagorically sneaky.*

>That sounds dangerous

_ -“That sounds cool”: (1 point) _

“Heh, you sound enthusiastic, but informants’ lives aren’t as exciting as you may see in movies or detective novels.”

_ -“I am phantasmagorical sneaky”: (2 points) _

Sae laughs

“Haha, that word doesn’t exist, what kind of response is that?”

_ -“That sounds dangerous”: (3 points) _

“That’s because it is, informants put not only themselves and their reputations at risk but also their families and loved ones too.”

Sae paused now looking at the boy up and down on his seat.

“But in your case… hmmmm”. Holding her chin she closed her eyes, as if making up her mind.

“You seem to be good at this, maybe I could even have some use for you even after you graduate.” Her tone was formal and serious again, she was not joking. And that made Ren feel uneasy for some reason. Yet, it felt like a barrier was brought down, has he perhaps… passed a first test of some sort?

“Hmmm.” Sae is musing something.

_ ‘I seem to have gathered a great interest from Sae Niijima. I feel our bond has become stronger’. _

**Rank 2!**

**Arcana burst**

Slightly shaking her thoughts away Sae’s mind comes back to the conveyor restaurant.

“Anyway, it seems our food is going to waste because of all our talking, you better eat now so you can go home early.” She said in a mandatory but almost playful tone.

Ren nods.

Sae takes a bite of her sushi “It honestly is not that bad.”

‘it's too salty and cold,’ Ren thought but Sae seemed to be enjoying it.

“Oh, I should take some home…” Sae paused again contemplating her actions “but Makoto would nag me about nutrients again….”

She was now talking to herself again.

“Anyway, we better head out. I’ll contact you again soon. There’s something else I need you to do for me, and I’m sure you’ll be helpful.” This time her smile wasn’t as comfortable as before, Ren would consider it was almost a smirk. What kind of thing she was going to ask him next he wondered.

“Next time, if you help me I’ll teach you a few things that could help you easing the limitations put on you by your probation, I’m sure you’ll like what I could teach you so look forward to that.”

There was no point dwelling on it. She seems to be enthusiastic about their next encounter, so he should just wait for what she had in mind for now.

Ren nods, with that they part ways.

**Later right before Ren entered Leblanc:**

Amamiya’s phone rings. It was Sae calling again.

“Hello, it’s me. I… would like to apologize for going out on you early today, you didn’t deserve that.”

>That’s odd.

>What you mean?

>Is good.

-“That’s odd.” (0 points)

“Is that so, then maybe I shouldn’t apologize.”

-“What you mean?” (1 pt)

“So, you act like you didn’t take it personally? Well I’ll keep that in mind.”

-“Is good” (2)

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Honestly with all that’s going on, I feel like I’m losing my mind sometimes, but one can’t show weakness during decisive times like these. One slip and years of hard work can go to the drain.”

“I’m sure with all you went through, at least you can imagine how that is.”

>“It’s scary”

>”I wish I did.”

>”It doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

-“It’s scary” (1pt)

“Yeah it is, but we can’t let fear dictate our lives, can we?”

-“I wish I did” (0pts)

“Well, it can always be worse, so at least keep in mind that you at least still have some semblance of freedom for now.”

-“It doesn’t matter to me anymore.” (0pts)

“… Honestly, sometimes I wish I could say the same.”

“Anyway, I’ll be contacting you again soon. Make sure you eat well, I won’t take you to dinner next time.” Sae hangs up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, it didn’t took long for me to bring up the “dad” nerve on, huh? Well that’s because there may be a lot of that coming too.  
> Before you kill me for the “>I’m phantasmagorically sneaky.” I-I can make up for it I swear!  
> Well you see, in Japanese version of the game, the phantom thieves are named “Kaito-dan” so my original idea for the pun was to make it sound like Ren was trying to say something around the likes of “I’m a very Kaitious person/Boku wa hijouni kaitous desu ” as in cautious (sorry for butchering the language). Get it? That’s a lot better right…?  
> Hello?  
> In this chapter I made Ren directly head to the restaurant after Sae's message to hang out. I still haven't made up my mind about where Sae would be just standing up waiting for Ren to interact with her like other confidants lol. I thought about it being in the Ginza line since it'll make sense they connect there since it's basically the heart of Tokyo, I also thought to just to make the Prosecutors Office building her hub since it seems the Chiyoda district (which included the diet building and police station as well) was meant to be a hanging out area in the original P5 but ended being cut out of the game and used just for late cutscenes.  
> Also, notice how most confidants in the game can interact with other confidants as well even during their own ranks? Well, you can expect some special guests for the next chapters.


	3. Rank 3: Expect the unexpected.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sae has some big questions ready but she didn't expect a certain person to get in the middle of their interrogation today.

**Song: Beneath the mask rain.**

Amamiya sighted as he came back to his attic room. 

His hair was somewhat still wet because of the rain outside, he had an umbrella but the wind on his way home didn’t make things easier for him. As tired as he was tired he considered taking his mandatory salt baths across the street. Yet having such time for himself would leave him alone with his thoughts too much for his own good. Or at least that’s what a teenage boy battling his hormones would need to take into consideration when making such decisions.

An image of just a few days ago still flashes his mind.

“So… where are you taking me next?” The brunette girl's smile beamed under her own umbrella as she walked by his side.

That smile, it really took him by surprise.

At first Amamiya had no idea what to expect when he offered to take her to the arcade, she was looking for ways to become more familiar with the things that made her peers relate and trust each other. Because of that she really wanted to learn how they spend time together, he felt a Karaoke was an option but people that go to karaokes aren’t necessarily always friends, it can be a quick way to bond between professional colleagues or just to lose some steam along with some strangers. Meaning you are not really obligated to be friends with everyone that goes with you, and it can get boring pretty quickly if you go between just two people. Going to a movie felt more like a personal and close experience between friends who already share a bond to spend some time and enjoy something together. But an arcade, just playing games together and having fun just for the sake of fun, that felt more of a proper way to break some walls down so they could learn a few things about each other and what people of their age usually do to enjoy their time together with other friends.

He was sure she was thinking the same, probably not in such an analytical way as he was, but he wasn’t going to tell her how inexperienced he was about such topics himself wouldn’t he? She had reached him for a reason after all, not Ryuji, not Yusuke, not Anne. She must’ve seen something about him that made her think he would know how to approach this kind of situation. So, he had to live up to those expectations.

And he did his part well, he was sure of that, but then. She got too much into it.

Another surprise. Once they started playing in the arcade Makoto screamed out loud every time they lost a match, like a noisy teenage girl playing games in the solitude of her room. But in reality they were surrounded by people, even some students from their same school were there, all of them were as surprised as Ren to see their diligent student council president being so loud in public playing an arcade shooting game. But part of Ren admired how little she seemed to care about that. He too was used to being the source of unwanted attention in that school. After a few visits at the school library, he realized that it may have been the same for Makoto the whole time. The same Makoto who’s already been spending three years in that rumor mill of a school, being called a teacher’s pet, or as she would call her “old self” a door mat for everyone to step on. It seems she really was over that.

He continued to look at his side, at her enjoying the game, smiling. Perhaps they were losing so many matches because of how distracted he was getting, but it didn’t matter.

After all the technicalities and analytical points of views the girl shared with him about how the movements used on that gun about game could give them some tactical advantage in the cognitive world they know as the metaverse, there was one last thing that he really wasn’t expecting. 

“Where will you take me next?” She simply said. 

Meaning, she was looking forward to spending more time with him… him, Shujin’s own infamous delinquent who’s rotten reputation was a black hole that would swallow anyone who decided to be close to him in their daily environment. And she didn’t seem to care one bit about it.

‘Isn’t she full of surprises?’

He wasn’t expecting she would be so open to the idea, actually, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be expecting anything at all. The girl's real self was a mystery to him, an intriguing one at that. Even though he and his partners in crime did figure out a few things about her by now, there was so much left to be learnt about her, like, what does she want? What’s her goal in life? What are her motivations to get closer to him? Did she even know herself? 

Also, why did he even care about that?

They were at odds just a few weeks ago. But now, she seemed to be on board with the idea of him showing her around town, learning more about what kids around their age do to spend time and have fun, by just being two high school students having fun together…. making memories together….

He was looking down at the floor, becoming aware of the sudden hotness on his cheeks.

He couldn’t deny that Makoto Niijima was a very attractive girl who had a very noble heart, she was a curious person, hungry for learning and had good intentions. And she really cared about the people around her.

But was that all there was to it?

So far Amamiya was no stranger of making close friends with quite a few unique female specimens. And it’s not like when he arrived in Tokyo he had the future of his love life at the top of his priorities. But after all that’s been going on in his life for the past few 3 to 4 months, he can’t help but to wonder about the “what ifs”.

He became really close friends with the sweet tooth, foreigner looking, “outcast” Anne Takamaki. And he really cherished their bond too.

As they started to spend some time together, she began to trust him more and more, showing him that childish but understanding nature of hers who struggled to become stronger and wanted to reach out to become that potential dauntless woman dormant inside her, that potential she seems to hide from the world.

Yet, their bond of trust was quite unique. It was fun to have someone to be able to be so honest with. Even though sometimes his sarcasm would go over her head, he liked how blunt she was with him, for what he understood about her, it meant she really trusted him. They were really good friends, and he was sure she thought the same of him. 

Maybe there was a chance for something more there, but he wasn’t going to just “go for it”. Of course Anne was a beautiful girl, both inside and outside. But the trust and sincerity they had between each other has become more important to him at this point. He wouldn’t want to risk damaging it by making undesired approaches, because he knows she has had enough of that for a lifetime. Although, sometimes she seems to be “ok with it” when it comes to Ryuji, but that just seems to be the nature of their bond too. 

Then there was the back alley doctor, and well… he knew by now that doctor had a noble heart too. And she really wanted to help people as well, after all she was a doctor. Maybe he wasn’t too sure about her way of doing things when it came to him. But she is a mature woman after all, and even though he likes to see maturity and intelligence in a girl, maybe he still lacks enough courage to see the overall appeal of getting that close to a girl like Tae Takemi… who knows, maybe one day?

Then there was “Becky”… there was absolutely nothing normal about him and Becky. She was fun to have around for sure, but it was mostly just so they could have some sort of satisfaction from either teasing each other or managing to have even more free time by making her work the worth of the yen she would cost him for each visit. Be it by either making tools, coffee, or even doing the laundry, it was ‘all because of the cause’ that’s what he’ll tell himself. But in the end, Becky… Kawakami knew more about him than what he knew about her… there wasn’t really much of a two side friendship going on, they both appreciated their cooperation, but things were still too weird to even have a clear outlook to what Kawakami meant to him.

There were also the journalist girl in crossroads and the beautiful Shogi player at the church. They were… interesting to say the least, but he hasn’t spent enough time with them to really grasp much about what they meant to him either. They were just acquaintances to be friends so far…

And then there was Makoto Niijima. And was she a special one.

First impressions aside, the thing that keeps surprising him the most is how similar the two of them were.

Makoto was a loner who seems to know little about the world outside her own personal interests, she was independent enough to make risky decisions on her own and maybe even a little too reckless at times. But she kept it all that and hidden behind a well-mannered and composed “mask”… in a way, he was exactly the same.

Every time they talked, he felt they easily grew more and more close to each other, even after sharing the most mundane and simple conversations. Maybe it was just a subconscious wishful thinking of his, but Amamiya felt like the both of them were very predisposed to share things between each other with great ease. As Anne put it once, it’s as if they’ve known each other forever.

Back then he didn’t really understand what she meant by that, but now, for the first time ever since he started making these new pacts all over Tokyo, he was actually nervous of screwing things up during each conversation they shared…

Amamiya sighs again.

“That’s two sighs now, are you ok?”

The boy looks at his black and white cat roommate sitting near the stairs behind him.

“It’s nothing.” He dismissed his roommate's comment.

Screwing things up, he should be very careful to not trample on her feelings. That was the last thing he would want to happen. 

To give her a wrong idea about him, or to hurt her, and for him… there were a list of consequences he wasn’t feeling ready to face if he ever took one wrong step.

*Pin Pin Pin*

And with that timing, one of those potential “consequences” was texting him right now.

**Rank 3: Expect the unexpected.**

**Evening July**

Sae: “I’ve managed to get some free time for today. I still need to head somewhere else before heading home, but I’ll have enough time to meet you if you can.”

Sae: “I would like to ask you a few things, are you available today?”

“Hmmm.”

Amamiya looks over to the attic window. Rain has stopped now. Of course it did right after he got home.

He looks back at his phone screen, reliving all his previous thoughts about the afternoon.

Maybe spending some time in the bathhouse alone with his own thoughts wasn’t such a good idea for today.

>Yes.

Sae: “Good, I’ll be waiting in the Ginza line, please don’t take long.”

Amamiya sighs again. What was he doing?

“Three”. Morgana said.

“I’ll make you something to eat and I’ll head out for a while.” He said ignoring him.

“Hey, fine by me.” Morgana grinned at the free food offer.

\-------

“So you came, I was starting to think you won’t show up, you’re five minutes late.”

Sae Niijima was standing beside a bending machine up in the Ginza Line as Ren Amamiya approached her.

“There’s a few things I left behind in my gym, but there’s still time before I need to head home.”

He raised an eyebrow at the word “gym”.

‘Well it was only natural a woman that looks like Sae Niijima would keep herself fit, and considering how fit Makoto looks in her thief ou-… nope!’ Amamiya shrugged his thoughts away.

“And I wanted to ask you a few things, so, shall we?” Sae asked, not noticing the boy’s weird behavior just there.

”Yes.”

“Good. Let’s see…” with that Sae started walking, with the boy silently following her.

Song: Suspicion

“I’ll be blunt, the reason I made a deal with you was not only to have you gather information for me.” She stopped at a very familiar walkway, with a great look towards the station square and the Shibuya scramble, if there was a way thoughts could sweat, Amamiya would been sweating profusely at the image of the prosecutor, who according to Makoto was investigating them, was now standing right in the middle of the Phantom Thieves hideout casually talking to their leader of all people.

“Don’t get me wrong, you have proven to be capable of such tasks, and I can see the use for your skills in the future, since I cannot go unnoticed in many places like someone like you can go.”

“…”

Amamiya noticed the connotation of the word “someone like you”, after all, she casually called him a criminal the last time they talked. Even though she had apologized later.

“What’s with that face, you know what I mean.” She wipes her long hair over her shoulder back in a mannerism that could only declare ‘get over it’.

‘She’s so different to her it’s not even funny’ once again, thinking about the red eyed brunette at her school, he realizes the irony and lets a small chuckle that Sae seemed to ignore.

“Don’t tell me you don’t take advantage of your “delinquent” status at least a little bit?” he looked up at her face, she was seriously asking him that question with a puzzled look on her face…

>Can’t say I do.

>Maybe a little.

>Why would I do that?

>”Can’t say I do.” (0 points)

“I see, that’s a waste. You can do better than that.”

>”Maybe a little” (2 points)

“So you see the advantages of being feared, no?” Sae crossed her arms and smiled to herself “There are certain uses for that kind of reputation. Sometimes it’s better to be feared than respected. It’s one of the reasons I’m counting on you actually.”

>”Why would I do that?” (1 point)

“You never thought about it? Intimidation is a decent tool to gather information, although not the most efficient, it’s one you naturally have at your disposal.” She said nonchalantly.

Well he already knew about her cold nature, and she did mention the “bad cop good cop routine” before, but saying it out loud like that, was she really ok with such methods?

Making a deal with a “criminal” as she called him, ‘how far was she willing to go to get what she wanted’ he wondered.

“After all, you need to take advantage of the cards the world is giving you,” she continued “even if they are not what you expect them to be.”

That much was true, he was after all doing just that. Just not in a very “legal” way.

“But even after saying that, I already knew there’s a gambling spirit within you.”

“…”

This is not the first time he heard this, but why would Sae Niijima be interested in such a thing? His puzzled look tipped off the young prosecutor.

“Oh, what I meant is that you seem to take risks normal people won’t take.” She says as she lowers her arms. “Like making a deal with somebody like me, even when you’re viewed as a criminal. If I’ll have to guess, it probably has to be because you feel like you have nothing else to lose?” She voices her conjecture as a question, probably a habit because of her line of work.

She brings her hand to her chin, looking the boy directly in the eyes, analyzing him to which Amamiya swallows.

“I suppose I could see it,” she continues relaxing her arm while pointing at him “you do hide a piercing look behind those glasses.” Even though her mouth was covered and he couldn’t see a smile, he could hear her release a soft chuckle.

“I’ve seen those eyes before. So I’m sure of it.” She states. “You really feel you’re being treated unfairly.”

Sae looked through his mask just like that. Was she that good at figuring people out? Or was it just because it was him?

But Amamiya knew better than to interrupt her, her point was made, he was more interested to find out what she was trying to tell him here.

“You may still be a kid, but you were basically thrown into the wilds to survive on your own. But maybe you always had that look in your eyes.” Sae tone was calm, her face didn’t display any emotion, but she was really confident for some reason. Ren’s silence only validated her deductions in her eyes, to what she let a small victory smile.

The boy looks away. He did use these fake glasses to hide his face from the scrutiny of his peers. He always had this face, there’s nothing he could do about it. He’s beyond getting pissed for being called out about it too, way past it. Or that he thought.

“I understand that much.” She concludes. “For that reason, I believe you have a different view of things unlike most kids your age.”

Ren brings his attention back to her.

“Which brings me to the reason why ask you here.” Sae says raising a finger. And then…

“What do you know about the Phantom Thieves of hearts?”

Ren’s eyes are now open wide.

What is it today with women giving him unexpected questions? No he should’ve expected this.

“You seem surprised. You should’ve expected me to ask you this, after all, the first reported case about this group appearance was in your school. I understand you also had a bad relationship with that teacher who’s “heart” was changed, no?”

There was no way the woman investigating that was aware of his record couldn’t have familiarized herself about his connection to Kamoshida. But, what did he expect? Maybe he hoped Makoto would’ve tried to divert her sister from the topic? Or maybe was Makoto herself who told her about it? No, if she did, she would’ve warned him about it, no?

‘Of course not… She doesn’t know I’m continuously talking with her older sister.’ Ren girths his teeth.

‘I got myself into this…’ He sighs in resignation. 

Ren simply nods as an answer.

“So far, I deduced they must obviously be a group of juveniles, the theatrics displayed on those “calling cards” and the way they’re written, they also seem to have enough free time during the day to act freely like they did when they posted those calling cards for their last two targets.” She explains. Ren appreciates this slight ramble as he can use it to regroup, that way maybe he can come up with a proper answer to her previous question. He knows she wouldn’t let it go that easily.

“Honestly at first I only believed it was nothing but a childish urban legend being spread by immature highschool kids and such.” She sighs “Maybe it really is just that.”

“But now… “ She looks at the side, to the window, to the city lights, right where he first saw that palace floating over the distorted city. “We can’t deny something is affecting people’s cognition enough to give them a complete change of heart from out of nowhere.”

Ren’s eyes went wide again, the word ‘cognition’ coming from her set some alarms on. 

How much did she know? Was she aware of the metaverse existence? In his mind, she couldn’t be. But how could he confirm that was out of his reach now.

“So... Tell me Amamiya-kun, are these Phantom Thieves Shujin students?” now her question became even more aggressive.

It was pointless to try to divert the topic. He couldn’t come up with something without making it sound suspicious. Maybe he could just try to come up with a fake theory of his own.

This was nothing like dealing with Akechi, at least that boy liked to play around before getting the answers he needed, that would give Ren enough time to analyze the field and come up with something to catch him off guard, but Sae was a totally different animal. So far, Ren was proud of his wit, he would usually come with quick answers to destabilize the confidence of the people who could try to catch him off guard on the spot….

Then a memory flash in his mind.

“I’m a dad” Well maybe except that one time…

Then another memory crossed his mind.

“You will tell me, won’t you?” Makoto’s shining lips were displaying a confident smile as her soft voice asked him for an answer. He liked that smile, even though he was put on a corner by her, or maybe it was because of that same reason…

‘No. I underestimated her that time, this is different!’ He tries to convince himself.

“I…”

Ren swallowed. His mind was blank, except for the lingering image of this woman’s younger sister lips, her small figure walking along him… ‘Why now of all times dammit?’ he cursed himself.

Maybe he should’ve gone to the bathhouse after all.

“Oh, Sae-san….”

Just as the whistle of the middle time of a soccer game where the local team was losing by a landslide, Ren felt saved by a familiar gentle voice.

“Akechi-kun!?” A surprised Sae said looking towards the boy approaching them.

It was none other than the famous detective Goro Akechi, a boy who just like Sae, had just started a unique pseudo professional cooperative relationship with Amamiya a few weeks ago.

“What? Amamiya-kun? What are you doing here?” Akechi notices the presence of the young frizzy haired boy. Or maybe he was pretending?

‘Was he waiting for a chance to meddle?’ Ren never knew with Akechi. And that bothered him, maybe he wasn’t really out of the woods yet… actually, things could have just gotten worse.

Song: My homie

“You two… know each other?” Sae asks.

“Oh, yes. We became acquaintances when he was part of a school trip on a TV set I was being interviewed at.” Akechi explains with a smile.

“I see.”

“What about you Sae-san. Do you know Amamiya-kun for a while?”

Before Sae could answer, Amamiya took it to answer for himself for some reason. It was his only chance to change the field in his favor for a change, but he needed to be bold for it to work. So he does the one thing he’s best at, deflect any hardships with unwanted comedy.

>I’m her errant boy.

>She requires my services.

>She’s my sugar momma.

>”I’m her errant boy.” (1 point)

“Well, something like that, but there’s something off about the way you’re saying it.” Sae says while raising an eyebrow.

>She requires my services. (1 point)

“You could say that, but I’m not sure if you’re making it sound sketchy to sound cool or if you’re being serious.”

>She’s my sugar momma. (0 points )

“I retract what I said before, that “gambling spirit” of yours may actually be your death sentence.” Sae said, frowning at the boy. Apparently he was able to get away with pulling that joke somehow.

“Haha. Sae-san isn’t very good in the uptake when it comes to jokes, sometimes it’ll even go over her head.” But then Akechi adds more wood to the fire.

“I see.” Ren says, realizing just then how Sae crossed her arms and was tapping her feet. Her patience was being tested once again.

“I sense you two are trying to gang on me, huh?” Sae says “Very well, I can take both of you kids at the same time quite easily.”

‘Wording! What is she even talking about?’

Goro and Ren shared a short look. 

“Err…” He didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

“What?” Sae was evidently clueless about it.

“It’s nothing,” Akechi picks up the line of the conversation, being the most experienced of the two when it came to handling interactions with the young prosecutor, he did his best to continue the convo without revealing his need to laugh too obviously “I apologize if I’m praying too much. I was wondering what were you two talking about?” He finally asks.

“Apology accepted.” And just like that, Sae says nothing more.

“…”

“Oh.” Akechi seems to get the clue. She’s not gonna tell him anything.

Ren wondered if Sae was just being petty, or did she have an ulterior reason for not sharing their cooperation with the young detective. Either way he can’t tell behind the woman’s poker face.

“Actually, I’m now more interested in the dynamic you two have,” Sae then intrudes their thoughts. “How much do you know about him, Akechi-kun?” She now started interrogating Goro.

Ren noticed that Akechi was allowed to approach Sae by her first name, but she didn’t really return the pleasantry for some reason.

“Well, to be honest not much,” But the boy keeps his calm, maybe he was too used to Sae’s cold articulation by now “and it’s not like I’m really interested about his past. But truth be told he can be quite a fascinating specimen to gather intel because of his unique perspective. Well, at least for me.” He said with that typical gentle smile of his.

“Is that so?” Sae seemed unconvinced by his answer.

“Yeah, he’s very observant and not easy to fool. I was really surprised about him last time we hung out.” Akechi says.

“Hmmm? And where do you two hang out?”

‘Why is she interested in that?’ Now Ren was curious about the purpose of her questions. She didn’t seem the one to care about such things.

“Hmmm, we usually go to the Billiards & Darts bar at Kichijoji. It’s easy to talk more openly when you’re in a relaxing environment after all.”

“Hooo?” Now Sae had formed a smug smile on her face all the sudden.

“So you two go around town, playing to be adults like that? I shouldn’t be surprised.” Sae says with a wry smile.

“That’s cold Sae-san.” A sagging Akechi says, “But I guess I should’ve seen it coming.”

‘So this is Sae Niijima’s sense of humor?’ Ren took a mental note.

“Oh that makes me wonder, what does Sae-san do to relax? Whenever I see you, you’re usually focused on work.” Akechi tried to continue the conversation as Sae began to drift away.

“Me?” She takes a moment to think her answer. It seems her mood changed after “getting back” at Goro for that previous joke.

“Well I guess I take my stress off during my kickboxing practices, although I haven’t been doing it as often as I used to lately.” Sae says.

“Wow. Scary.” Goro comments “Although that explains a lot.”

“Huh?” Sae raised her frown at Goro.

“Is nothing.” But Akechi only smiled.

“Actually, hearing what Akechi-kun said about you makes me realize my hunches weren’t wrong.” Sae turns back to Ren “This encounter actually gave me an idea.”

Sae looks at Ren with a malicious smile.

A chill went down Ren’s spine.

“I wonder what you mean by that Sae-san.” Goro laughed nervously. Acting as if he wasn’t the cause of whatever is going to happen next.

“All I’ll say is, just like you, Amamiya-kun here was thrown into an adult world at a young age.” Sae’s tone then changed into a serious one “Unprepared and on his own, now he has to adapt to that and overcome it. And as I told him before, because of that he has gained a unique perspective of the workings of the adult world only someone in his circumstances could have.”

That seems to be Sae’s realization for the day. Was she actually starting to see Ren as a victim of his circumstances? Or was it something else?

Ren could sense an unexpected sympathy coming from Sae Niijima.

Their bond is becoming stronger now.

**RANK 3**

**Arcana burst.**

“He also seems to be smart enough to be aware of his environment,” Sae continued “at least when he’s interested enough. So, that could make him a valuable resource.”

“I see.” Now Goro was also analyzing Amamiya’s posture as well “I guess it’s kind of the same for me.” He admits.

“If you really think so that way,” Then his smile returns as he turns back to Sae “maybe you could come with the two of us to the billiards from time to time, no Sae-san.”

“I have no time to play adult with you two.” Sae simply said.

‘Again, wording.’ Ren thought as he felt an unfamiliar yet petty dread for rejection.

“Figured as much,” Akechi turned to Ren. “She may say that, but Sae-san is only 25, yet she tries to act like someone who’s double that age. Isn’t that weird Amamiya-kun?”

Amamiya shrugs, trying to keep himself in neutral territory in this teasing war.

*Sigh* “Why do I surround myself with children.” Sae’s palm collapses with her forehead.

“Anyway,” She composes herself. “I’ll contact you soon Amamiya-kun, our discussion is not over, but I got a better idea now of how to get my answers from you.”

Ren became alert again, there was no way he could read what she just said was a serious threat or if she was joking behind that deadpan expression of hers.

“As for you Akechi-kun.” Sae turned towards the boy.

“Hmmm?” Much to her displeasure Akechi seemed to be eager to continue their banter.

“I will need your opinion on a case,” But Niijima was now on business mode “can I count with you tomorrow after you’re done with classes?”

“Sure thing Sae-san.” Akechi gave a serious response out of respect.

“Good. That’ll be all then.”

With that Sae walked away from the two teens.

“I didn’t expect Sae-san and you to be acquaintances,” Goro said to Ren “talk about a small world.”

“I guess.” Ren says.

“Although that look she gave you, I only see it when she really wants to kick someone on the face,” Akechi’s gentle smile didn’t match his words “she may try to physically hurt you next time she sees you, I seriously don’t envy you.”

Apparently the boy really needed to get the teasing out of his system one last time.

But Ren couldn’t help but to feel a little scared… Once again, a certain brunette came to his mind, he has seen what his comrade and team advisor was capable of… Could Sae be even worse?

‘Why am I thinking I’ll get in a fight with her in the first place!?’ Ren tried to appease himself.

“Well, I’ll have to go too, see you soon Amamiya-kun.” Akechi parts ways as well.

Ren then returned to Leblanc. Maybe he should’ve thanked Akechi for indivertibly saving his façade back there, but he didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

**Later:**

Song: Alright (elp version)

Sae calls Ren once more.

Sae: “Hello, sorry for leaving just like that, but I already had to pick up my gear before the Gym closed up.”

>Does Sae-san compete?

>Are you a Ninja?

>Apologize accepted.

>“Does Sae-san compete?” 1pt

“Nothing of the sort, I just practice martial arts as a stress relief activity, and to keep myself safe of course.”

>”Are you a ninja?” 1pt

“If I were, I wouldn’t tell you. But I do consider myself skilled enough to defend myself from any criminal if that’s what you mean.”

>”Apologize accepted.” 0pt

“Are you mimicking me? That wasn’t even a good impression.”

“Anyway, I didn’t get your answer today since we were interrupted, but next time I’ve planned the perfect way to get you to talk, so I hope you’re ready.”

>I’m innocent!

>Please be gentle.

>I’ll be ready for anything.

>”I’m innocent!” 1pt

“That’s what they all say.”

>”Please be gentle.” 0pt

“Gentle? I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”

>”I’ll be ready for anything.” 2pt

“I like that spirit, we’ll see if you can keep up when the time comes then.”

‘Oh no’

“Anyway that is all. But if you ever feel like talking on your own, I’ll be taking a rest every now and then at that same spot at the Ginza line.”

“Even if you only have some minor news about the happenings around Shujin, I’m willing to listen to that too.”

“Just make sure it’s important information I wouldn’t be able to gather using the police got it? I would hate you wasting my time on some minor topic like the teachers being mean to you or something like that.”

“Anyway, that will be all. We’ll talk another time.”

Sae hung up the phone.

Ren enters the empty shop and lets out a sigh, wondering what kind of torturous interrogation method the Ice Queen Sae Niijima has waiting for him now.

“That’s four!” He hears a childish voice say welcoming him with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished moving and I could finally finish this. I'm kinda starting to overwhelm myself with projects again so I'll start taking it slower, but this story is between my priorities, I really hope I can make it a decent story since my writing confidence has been on the floor ever since last year between other personal stuff and the sort.
> 
> Anyway this chapter took a more lighthearted tone to the story since I wanted to find a middle ground for Sae's character and I hope I'm not taking too much liberties here lol.  
> Anyway, the shumako at the beginning is the reason why this story is tagged as such so you can expect more of that in future chapters too ;)  
> Also I tried to give a little more intake on Ren's character at the beginning, take it from as a player POV moment if you must, but it was just to spice his character a little bit, I still try to keep the game mechanic approach as consistent as possible with this narration style, but it was just a little taste of freedom I took out there, feel free to ignore the text until the "Rank 3" part starts so that way it'll be 100% consistent to the style I've wrote so far.
> 
> Edit: fixed some grammar errors. 11/30/20  
> Next Rank is a skill Rank, so yay. But there may be a new extra chapter before that, we'll see.


	4. Rank 4: Resilience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, happy new year ^^;  
> I've been doing lots of stuff lately and I want to make my new year resolution to finish all my stories in here.  
> I like to thank splinterfranxx (makotwoofficial on twitter) for beta reading most of this chapter. It helped me a lot to recover my writing confidence to have someone do that, and sorry for giving you the trouble ^^;  
> Anyway, this was longer than the rest of the chapters but I have my outline for the rest of the story mostly finished so here's where things start to pick up.

RANK 4

Sae Niijima: Are you free? I’ve been meaning to put some sense into you ever since our last meeting.

Sae Niijima: I’ve decided your fate.

Those where the texts Ren found in his phone right after finishing his studying for the exams; he had spent the last afternoon before the three days of torture began studying with Makoto at the library. Regardless of her mention of “drilling it into him” He didn’t see too much into it during the meeting as he actually concentrated on his notes for a change, learning a bunch of new studying methodologies thanks to his reliable Senpai. 

After his study was done, he checked on his phone again.

But Sae texting him while he was spending time alone with her little sister did nothing but feed a nonessential paranoia in him.

 _‘What did I even do to piss her off now?’_

He wondered.

….

>Respond later

>I am too young to die.

….

>I am too young to die. 

Sae: If you’re able to make jokes you may understand that our deal still stands, I will reward you with some legal advice. And maybe something else that could help in the future too.

Sae: But first I must confirm something, by testing you one last time.

Ren: I’ll go.

Sae: Good, I’ll send you the location, prepare some gym clothes as well.

Sae: I’m gonna carve some respect into you.

…

An odd sense of deja vu filled his mind.

\---

 **Song: Infiltrate (P5A)** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6-kkryPhLE]

He arrived at the location sent to his phone, just a few blocks from Shibuya's station square. There was a gym ironically called “Scramble”. The gym was small but had all it needed to have. There weren’t that many people in the gym since it was already past the rush hour. He noticed a ring and a wooden mannequin used for practicing martial art moves similar to the one in the gym Ryuji showed him at Central Street.

These two things did trigger some alarms in his head. Alarms that became a code red as soon as he noticed the slender but fit figure of a woman wearing yoga pants, a sports bra, and a couple of gloves similar to the ones worn by the mixed martial artists he’d seen in cage fighting on TV walking away from the mannequin.

Her ashen hair was tied up in a ponytail but a little bit of her long hair still covered one half of her forehead, sticking to the skin of her face as sweat dripped down her face. She had to have been training for some time by now.

He gulped as soon as she noticed him and started approaching him while taking her gloves off.

“So you actually came. Good.” The young woman said as she picked a towel to clean her face.

Since she was closer, he was able to notice the sweat trickling down from her upper torso under her sports bra to her…notable abs. He immediately lowered his head and trained his eyes to the floor, as if hiding his presence so he wouldn’t become a witness of a crime or a scene he shouldn’t have seen.

 _‘Calm down dammit.’_ he cursed.

To which Sae tilted her head curiously.

“What’s with that face?” she asked, almost dropping her stoic facade to let her smug inner smile win over.

Ren simply shook his head.

He didn’t want to know what the woman thought about his reaction, as he could’ve just made things worse, not wanting to deal with unceasing teasing for the rest of the evening.

But Sae didn’t push the topic and brought both her hands to her hips.

“Well, I suppose I should start explaining why I called you here today.”

She then turned her head towards the ring beside them. And his worst fears became a reality.

“To put it shortly, you’ll be my sparring partner today.”

Ren opened his mouth but no sound came out of him as his worst fear came to reality. 

He knew deep down this was going to be his fate as soon as she texted him to come up with the gym clothes that he was currently wearing. He cursed his previous compliance, thinking he could’ve used the excuse to go change to plan an escape route. Instead as she had told him earlier, his fate seems to be sealed for the night.

“Don’t be so surprised. What? Are you really that intimidated by a woman?”

He gulped, it was an odd question coming from her. Was he really prepared to be teased and tested for the rest of the evening?. Shall he play along? With a person like Sae Niijima, there wasn’t much space for proper retaliation if he took her previous reactions to his “jokes” as reference. If he took it too far, his stunts would either fly over her head, or cause a sore in the mood for the rest of their encounter.

Threading carefully he finally responded...

> Of course not.

>You look threatening.

>I am not prepared.

>”Of course not.” (2 points)

“Oh?” Sae smiled at that response, making the boy realize she was taking it as a challenge. “Well then if you’re so confident, then here I go!”

>“You look threatening”. (0 points)

“Ugh” Sae crossed her arms and let out a defeated whine. “I don’t know how to take that. Anyway prepare yourself!”

>”I am not prepared”. (1 point)

“That’s the point, now defend yourself!”

**Song: Blooming Villain (intro)**

Sae immediately entered in combat mode, raising both hands at her head’s height and rising one leg before stepping forward, charging at his direction.

He didn’t know how to react, they weren’t even on the ring, but by the time he realized they were standing over a padded mattress, he felt the woman’s leg crossing one of his from the side, then her sweaty forearm reached his neck as he felt his gravitational core vanish from existence for a few seconds.

When Ren realized what just happened, he was already knocked down by Sae, ending up on his back with his knees resting over his shoulders and his backside pointing upwards in a less than gracious landing than what he was used to.

**Song: Infiltrate Acoustic (P5A)**

By the time he stood back up, Sae didn’t give him any time to complain as she only criticized him for “not being alert.” 

Soon after that she guided him to the ring, so they could have an actual match. This time he had time to prepare, to be on guard. Similarly to how he does when he’s facing a powerful shadow, he decided to just guard and study his enemy’s attacks. He believed now Sae would actually take it a little easier, but instead, he was manhandled like a ragdoll by her kicks just a few seconds later. She would stop the “matches'' each time she landed a “point” either by knocking him down or just landing a kick. He ended up hoping she would just try to use a hold instead of landing those awfully hurtful kicks of hers. But she wouldn’t hesitate and he had to learn how to avoid giving her more openings the very, very hard way.

By the end he couldn’t win a single match. After a while, Sae guided him to the rest area by the side of the ring, handing him a bottle of water with a satisfied smile.

“I’m surprised, you actually lasted quite a while for a rookie, you seem to have some good endurance.”

Ren didn’t take the praise as he was too busy feeling the adrenaline lowering and the pain beginning to rise through his limbs.

“…”

Sae noticed the boy’s eyes were open but he was spaced out, watching nothingness and doing his best trying to assimilate the events of the evening.

Sae simply took a sip of her water while looking at him sideways.

“I feel quite refreshed now, ok, I’ll say you passed my test.”

“Everything hurts.”

“Come now, don’t be so dramatic. Let’s go sit down for a while.”

She guided her to the benches near the gym’s vending machine.

As he tried to relax on his seat he started to notice the change in the older Niijima’s demeanor.

_‘She looks way more friendly.’_

“It’s been such a while since I had a sparring partner,” She said as she sat beside him, looking up as if remembering something. “I honestly kind of missed practicing my kickboxing this way.”

Ren looked at her with curious eyes and Sae took notice.

“Ah yes, my little sister,” She tried to explain “Makoto, you know her right? She’s the student council president at Shujin. She used to be my sparring partner for some time, but she decided to practice her aikido on her own after some time.”

Now that was a surprise, one that shouldn’t be to him but it was one he couldn’t really imagine until he got to feel this woman’s kicks in the flesh. Suddenly Makoto’s brutal strength in the Metaverse made a lot of sense now.

>Why is that?

>Is Makoto stronger than you?

>Do you bully your little sister too?

>”Why is that?” 1 point

“Oh, I guess she got tired of me beating her up.” Sae explained as if it was just a little bothersome detail.

>”Is Makoto stronger than you?” 0 points

“Not a chance, I think she just gave up.” She said closing her eyes and waving his question off with her hand.

>”Do you bully your little sister too?” 1 point

Sae’s eyes went wide to the kid’s response and looked at him with legitimate curiosity.

“Even after getting beat up like that you still keep that wit of yours, huh?”

….

Sae fixed her hair in her ponytail again as she started explaining.

“The truth is Makoto never managed to beat me, not once, I suppose that’s just a byproduct of her practicing such a counterfeit martial arts style like Aikido.” He could notice a tone of satisfaction as she calls Aikido a fake martial art.

“The reason she stopped sparring with me was probably because I keep calling her out on that more than me always winning.”

Sae smiled to herself at the memory.

“She said; _‘You’ll see, I’ll train to become stronger and I’ll come back to defeat you.’_ Like she was a character of one of those 80’s animes or something. Then again, she was just 15 at the time.” 

Ren returned the smile, it was hard to imagine Makoto saying such things. Then again, it wouldn’t be strange to imagine _Queen_ saying such things.

He has heard about Aikido being mocked like this before. After all, Aikido requires a lot of help from the student so the holds would actually look effective, so as a self-defense martial art that didn’t really make much sense. Still, there was absolutely nothing “fake” about the way Makoto fought in the metaverse, if anything it was terrifying to just imagine being at the receiving end of her strikes.

He is no expert in martial arts whatsoever, but from seeing Makoto fighting up close, even he knows that she must know more than just Aikido. And yet, with all that impressive strength, she was still unable to beat the woman in front of him right now.

To say Ren felt out of his element was an understatement, the feeling of those kicks still palpable on his skin as a testimony to the older Niijima’s strength.

Sae took another sip of her water reminiscing something.

Her breathing became steady and calm by now, Ren on the other hand still had trouble composing himself. He wonders how much stamina Sae had. He couldn’t help to wonder, if she happened ever be able to have a persona she could be an unstoppable force in the metaverse.

“But at the end of the day, being Aikido or Bajiquan, those martial arts still teaches discipline, I’ll say at the very least she got something good out of it.” Sae’s words brought him back to reality. No, it was the unusual melancholy tone of her voice what snapped him back to this scene. Sae was being so strangely open right now, as if a major wall has just crumbled down without him even noticing.

And not only that, she was talking about Makoto in a kind and nostalgic way, to him of all people.

“By the way, I noticed you tried to cheat a couple of times during our matches.”

Ren stiffened, his eyes went wide.

“Heh, don’t worry.” Sae smiled at his obvious reaction. “To be honest, that’s the reason I said you passed my test.”

Now the boy was puzzled, Sae took her eyes back to the ring in front of them, as if remembering every move they had… she had to use during their matches just a few minutes ago.

“You were put on an obvious disadvantage.” She explained “Yet by our second match, you realized you were fighting a trained person, more prepared than you at least. Yet you adapted and still tried to get an upper hand on me regardless of your odds.” Did he sensed a flinch of pride in her words? It was probably just his imagination.

What mattered now was, what did Sae Niijima really wanted from him? Why go to these extremes? 

She was very a busy and stressed person. He being one of the reasons made him feel somewhat guilty. Yet, he couldn’t let his guard down. Even if she did became more approachable, he had no idea what her real goals were.

“I needed to test your resilience.”

...

 _‘So whatever you’re doing is worth it?’_ He wondered.

Of course Sae, the sister of their most proficient tactician would make plans to back-up her plans. And just as the little sister, Sae seemed to be a little extreme with her methods when she feels her original plans are falling out as well.

As he looked at her sideways, he noticed how her eyes were half lid, her eyelids narrowed as she looked down at the bottle she was holding between her legs, this time he couldn’t figure out if her expression displayed more melancholy, or just resentment…

“Back when I first started training, my father used to say that “the best way to get to know someone, is to challenge them into a fight.” 

Ren's surprise was telling, his perception of how Sae Niijima was supposed to be like continued to crumble down. She was the last person he expected would start sharing such intimate interests as her relationship with her father.

Sae looked at the surprised boy sideways, _‘Why am I telling him this?’_ she wondered

“I used to think it was some sort of bushido nonsense at first but…” Niijima admitted “People actually show you their true nature in such an intimate stage like close combat.”

The tone of her voice became more alive as she continues to reminiscence the meaning behind the words of her father. As if she found a topic of natural interest for her, one that she hasn’t shared that much if at all over the past few years. There was no reason to share such things now with a kid that didn’t exist to the eyes of the society she had to work so hard stay relevant in. It was absolutely meaningless, yet she couldn’t stop herself from continuing.

“Their stances, the way they look at you, their tactics, and more importantly, how far they’re willing to go to win. All that says a lot about a person.”

Ren noticed how her eyes were slowly lifting up, and her mouth formed an almost involuntary smile.

He came to understand the Niijima’s competitive nature a little better now.

“So I guess he was right about that.” But then the memory of an absence brought her back to her previous stoic self.

>He sounds very wise.

>Is he scarier than you?

>You look up to him.

>”He sounds very wise.” 1 point

“He was...” she simply said.

>”Is he scarier than you?” 2 points

She hummed a soft laugh “Not to me no,” She shook her head, a hint of a brief smile was visible on her face again “he was actually like a big teddy bear, he liked to hug a lot. But criminals feared him, so I guess he had that side of him too.”

>”You look up to him.” 1 point

“I… used to.” She said with her usual sober tone.

“He was murdered two years ago.” Sae explained.

“…” Ren didn’t know how to approach this, he did hear Makoto mention something about her dad too, but he didn’t imagine his absence was due to such a reason.

He wondered how much Makoto and Sae had gone through, losing a parent must never be easy. How old was Makoto when that happened? Sae said two years, which would mean she was just 15 years old.

He couldn’t dare to ask about because od the fear of reopening wounds that were meant to heal on their own.

“I had my suspicions about you, but you are actually a decent person, at least for now…” Sae went back to qualifying him. It was strange it took this long for him.

“You are, trying…” the sympathy was more than evident in her voice.

After saying that she steps up from her seat and looks down at him with that serious, “professional” look she has always given him before this night.

“Anyway, a promise is a promise. I’ll give you some legal advice now, regarding your probation, you may want to take some notes.” Ren stayed on his seat, as a student about to hear a lecture from their teacher at school.

**Song: Suspicion**

“First of all, I’m gonna be completely honest with you so you won’t get your hopes up.”

‘Up for a good start’ he thought, a part of him was grateful about Sae Niijima’s tendency to give “disclaimers” every time she’s about to do him a favor. Obviously a tendency originated from her line of work.

“Once your probation year is done, and your chargers MAY get lifted, your record will still be part of your past, meaning, there will be a low chance that not a single university will bother taking you in, let alone getting a serious long term job. And if the police ever get to stop you at the street for some reason, there’s a high chance they will detain you without hesitation regardless of whatever you’ve done anything bad or not. This record will remain with you for the rest of your life.”

“…”

It was as if he came back to the awful conversation he had with his parents before parting ways, as if he was talking with Sojiro the first time he came to Leblanc, or as when Kobayakawa explained the conditions for him to be a student in Shujin. Kamoshida threatened to expel him. It was just another adult telling him how his life was done. Yet he resisted the need to just numb those words away like he always does, because by now he knew Sae Niijima of all people didn’t waste her time explaining these things for no reason.

It’s just that whatever her point was, couldn’t it come any sooner? 

“But, there are still things you can do about that.”

And there it was.

“For one, not me or you can do nothing about your probation right now, but in the future, if you ever get in trouble with the law, trying to prove your innocence would be a waste of time.”

Again not very promising, but there had to be a catch she was able to see. Even if he didn’t believe those words. Justice, true Justice has to exist somewhere right? There has to be an end to this dark and frightful tunel he was walking into… it has to.

“Instead, you should just do what we are doing right now to get the best possible outcome for you.” Sae explained as pointing her finger up. Finishing the lecture…

Ren couldn’t hold the silence this time.

“That is?” He asked, almost as if he was offended. But Sae shook her head and raised her palm to stop him from complaining at all.

“Strike a deal.” She added. “You must always have something up your sleeve, something that the law can use to their advantage. Which is always reduced to; information.”

Now she started to make sense, but information, the cost of his liberty could be determined by such a broad theory?

“You may not like it, but that’s how life works. In the eyes of the system, you’re a criminal now. Trying to get yourself into university, getting a decent job, you can still manage to pull all that out, but with just a flinch, all that could be taken away from you again. Just because of your record.” She stated

It was something that had crossed his mind during the early lonely nights in that attic, before he had that proactive cat roommate who motivated him to keep himself busy at all times. He alone with his thoughts, imagined what life would be like after the year of probation was over. But he gave up on such thoughts quite fast, as the present became more and more urgent to him.

“Think about it… Like in this scenario, if a woman of your same grades and capabilities was competing with you for a position, and she were to accuse you of something grave, like let’s say sexual harassment to take you out of her way. Who will the authorities believe? The hypothetically capable girl, or the guy with a record for assault?”

He had trouble imagining such scenarios, he couldn’t imagine such scenarios, no… he didn’t want to imagine such scenarios…

Especially after living through the events of April on the flesh, and seeing how Kamoshida got away with so many despicable things. 

But then, the face of the girl that “sold him out” that night came back to his mind. Desperation, misery, betrayal. 

He felt all that at once, but back then he knew that woman was just as scared as he was, there was no comparison, but going to such an extent for such a superficial reason?

Sae couldn’t possibly believe that could just happen, right?

But then he looked at her face, she was serious. He knew it was a real possibility, something about the way Sae put it rang oh so true to him, and it made him feel sick.

Would SHE do such a thing if she had to?

He felt sick of his stomach for just imagining such a thing.

But she was a prosecutor after all. At the very least, she must have witnessed a few such cases.

His frown let her know he was imagining the whole deal playing out in his head now, the sadness in his eyes made her close hers before continuing her explanation, maybe a part of her just wanted to make him stop going too deep into such thoughts.

“Modern society is very competitive,” she continued “to be honest in such a scenario with any other circumstances, the woman would most likely just be dismissed, ignored, usually the police doesn't really bother believing victims in most cases. That’s just the nature of our society. But in your case, that record is a handicap, just like a target on your back.”

He looked down, defeated, there were so many wrongs with all she just said, but he couldn’t find the strength to refute her, all she said, the way she said it. It really sounded as it came from experience, Sae Niijima has really seen it with her own eyes, how many victims had she witnessed being ignored, how many innocent people had she seen being incarcerated?

…

How many innocents she had to incarcerate?

His eyes widened, It frightened him to imagine. He didn’t want to hide from that reality but he wanted it to change it so bad, this was Makoto’s sister! There’s no way she wouldn’t share a similar sense of justice, no? He couldn’t be defeated by such words, no way.

“… So I should just give up on that?” The frustration in his voice was evident. He was doing his best to keep his usual composure, but all this was stringing the “right” cords, showing the cracks on that passive mask of his.

“I didn’t say that.” she opened her eyes again, from his perspective. The way she looked down at him, it almost like she was pitying him.

“You need to work harder. As I said before, those are the cards you were given.” 

“I am giving you a chance here. Gather information, keep it as your currency, that way instead of being a liability to everyone, you’ll become an asset. Be useful to people whose jobs are to keep the peace and safety of all of us.” Sae’s tone now was almost solemn, did she really believe those words?

But that didn’t matter, he cleared his mind and remained himself why he was there. He made a deal with her, to which her next words made clear why he even bothered to take that risk.

“Remember that I asked you about the phantom thieves?”

“I do…” he nodded.

Maybe he was getting good at keeping this farce.

Did she really suspect him as a phantom thief? Or just as an accomplice?

He needed to find what she knew about them so far. But he also needed to mislead her. It was the most risked confidant deal he has made so far, but he was sure he could make it worth the trouble.

No, at this point, he had no other option.

“I know you know more than you let out, which is smart in a way. But I need to know as much as I can about them. How did they start their operations, who’s their leader, but most importantly, their methods.”

“I believe I’m close to something. But I’ll need your help to gather information in certain places I can’t get access or I shouldn’t be seen at.”

This was an important turn of events.

Much like his deal with Akechi, Sae was hidding her real impressions and suspicions about him or her thoughts about his connection with the phantom thieves.

She keeps testing him, like every word of hers is also a chess piece being moved.

She obviously continuously studied his reactions, a wrong move, a wrong word could be fatal for their cause.

But unlike with the Ace detective, there was something more important to gain from this, especially for him.

That was a direct connection to the ongoing investigation from the government itself about the thieves, and a potential advantage that could put them miles away from any danger of getting caught… or at the same time, a direct trap that could snuff all their aspirations in one single cut.

Dealing with Sae Niijima, It was indeed, a very risky gamble.

He knows that Akechi also has his suspicions about him, but something tells him that if the Ace detective ever comes to figure them out, he could still find a way to at least try to make a deal with him before he commits to turning them in to the police.

After all, the boy seems to be more interested in getting to “know” the phantom thieves than to take them out, at least for now. But Sae… she was different.

“Can I count on you to do this for me when the time comes? I’ll make sure to make it worth it for you as well.”

Ren simply nods in agreement.

“Thanks.”

Sae closes her eyes again, as if wiring herself for this new upgrade in their deal.

“I have a few places around Tokyo that I know for sure there were some reports of …” she pauses with a sigh ““sightings” of the phantom thieves.” 

“I can’t count on Cops or Detectives to go to such places to gather Intel, I would assign you to certain places instead. And don’t worry, none of them are dangerous for a minor like you, it’s just a fact that in such places people wouldn’t be interested to cooperate with the police.” She stated.

Ren raised an eyebrow. His curious nature couldn’t help but to wonder, what kind of absurd “sightings” he was going to find out about. There was no way anyone could know about the metaverse besides them…

_‘But then, there’s also the black mask person…’_

A new worry of finding out something he wasn’t ready to learn could become a problem for him in the future filled his thoughts.

Regardless of Sae suspecting him or not, he must keep up this charade. And maybe, just maybe, he could end up gaining her as their ally.

To Akechi he was a “supporter” of the Phantom thieves. To Ohya he was just a fanboy of the Thieves.

And now, he was going to be an informant for Sae Niijima, someone she expected could “infiltrate” the suspects to gather information most likely in order to prove himself not to be part of their organization. As he learned today, Sae likes to test people to analyze their reactions. He needed to be alert of her at all times.

Having one half of her family already on their side gave him hope, yet at the same time it continued to give him a dreadful feeling of guilt.

 _‘No this is also for her’_ he told himself… _‘to keep her safe, to keep them safe.’_

“Anyway, to make it word your time today, I’ll teach you some tips for whatever you ever get to be on court or being interrogated again by the police. You may want to know this.”

_‘Sae Niijima’s trust In my has grown a lot. I feel like our bond became deeper…’_

>Learned “POKER FACE”

[Ren gets to learn unique skills from shadows through negotiations, applying them to whatever persona he chooses]

>“Scramble” gym unlocked.

[Ren can invite his phantom thieves’ comrades to train with him, after training with someone enough times, they can unlock an unique Showtime unison attack together.]

“… I will contact you later about the next place I want to investigate.”

With that they parted ways for the day.

-

**Event: July 18**

**Song: Days of Sisters**

Joker: I don’t have a Yukata

Panther: I get it, why don’t you come without your glasses?

Queen: “What’s the point of that?”

Inside her apartment room, lying on her bed with a towel as she just came out after taking a shower, Makoto Niijima lurked through her past text messages as she waited for her hair to dry. Today was the day she and her newfound group of friends were waiting for, the fireworks festival.

She couldn’t help but to smile at the weird exchange, it was meaningless, pointless, non-practical. But she loved it, every second of it.

She doesn’t remember the last time she felt so relaxed about what the next day was going to be like. That’s how she felt for the past few days. At least ever since Kaneshiro was brought in by the police. 

A part of her knew she shouldn’t be so relaxed, that she of all people should be on guard at all times given who’s she related to. But, even though she did her best to hide her excitement for the festival day for her friends during their preparations for their exams, she was really looking forward to this day too.

These kinds of events always felt like a “social obligation” from her former outsider perspective. But now she can’t help but wanting to see her friends, and a shameless part of her wanting to be seen by them. That newfound feeling of belonging has brought her a pace of mind she never thought could experience when talking to these noisy teenagers she became friends with so easliy. It intrigued her how naturally all came about around them, especially when talking with a certain frizzy haired boy.

Who will not wear his glasses today…

_‘I like those glasses though.’_

Then the realization of her own thoughts hit her, she sat up at the edge of her bed as fast as she dashes towards those pesky shadows inside that palace.

_‘Why did I even send that? It was a silly idea but I must have looked like such a nag again.’_

She lamented her tendencies of her thoughts transcending to her text messages could become a usual regret for her.

_‘Am I really like this all the time?’_

Makoto tries to remember all the times she tried to voice a complaint but decided to stay quiet because of her new member status during the past few weeks.

 _‘Surely I should just let go of things more easily now’_ she hopes.

Just as she started changing into her Yukata, her phone started ringing, and a private chat with a certain quarter American girl popped up.

Panther: [Sent a picture]

She had sent a selfie picture of her making a pace sign in their private chat.

Makoto gasped at the selfie sent by the blonde model. The western beauty of Anne wearing a Yukata did make quite a unique sight, even as introverted as she was, Makoto knew true beauty when she saw it. And she honestly admired it. What followed next was Makoto being almost unaware of her sending her exact thoughts via text yet again, either being because of her lack of experience in causally texting socially outside of mundane mandatory student council matters, or just an almost involuntary reflex. This was a habit she now knew for sure she’ll come to regret many times in the future.

Queen: You look so beautiful Anne!

The response was immediate.

Panther: Ready to go hot-stuff!?

Of course Anne would write the “hot stuff” part in English, Makoto recognized this slang from watching western movies, she let out a frustrated whine before responding.

Queen: Please don’t call me that…

Queen: But yes thank you again for helping me choose a Yukata.

Panther: OH! Does that mean you like it now!?

Again, the enthusiasm to give a quick positive response led to exposing herself. Back when Anne accompanied her to shop for their Yukatas, she was very reluctant at first. So much she wouldn’t know which one would “fit her the best” given her practical view of things, she just left that honor to the capable fashion model.

She wished she could deny the Yukata wasn’t really fit for her, she didn’t think she'd wear one ever in front of anyone else besides her father or her sister. And even back in those days her dad or Sae would pick one for her as well. At least during the very few times they had the time to go to such events where she would need to wear one.

But even if the colors in this new Yukata weren’t her favorites, she couldn’t deny it just had a certain charm that Anne would only describe as “cute”. Again, she couldn’t disagree.

Queen: It’s actually starting to grow on me, you have a great fashion sense.

Panther: Heh Thanks, but your beauty made it easier for me. It just looks so good on you!

Taken aback a flush of pink filled her cheeks, she is still not good at taking these surprise attacks like these.

Queen: Oh, thanks.

[Panther is writing]

[Panther is writing]

…

Panther: Flirt back dammit!

To that Makoto could only write her exact same words she just said out loud after reading her text.

Queen: HUH!?

[Panther is writing]

Panther: You need to get used to it. Boys are gonna flirt with you all the time, I don’t like how you think you’re not beautiful.

Queen: Oh.

Anne has brought up that before, during their search for clothes and the Yukatas, she would tell her Makoto had a great figure from time to time, and that she needed to show it more to burst her confidence. Yet she didn’t feel ready, and honestly she felt no need to take such steps just yet.

Anne was used to having eyes on her, and of course that didn’t bother her since it was the career she seems to have chosen for herself, and she easily made it all about herself and how the clothes made her feel. 

But Makoto on the other hand was used, or even actually enjoyed going unnoticed. Especially lately with all the liberties and lack of troublesome circumstances that could carry. Maybe someday she would like to explore how that feels though.

Queen: Is just that I never bothered thinking about that.

That wasn’t a lie, until recently she couldn’t conceive such self-indulgent thoughts. 

Not until her eyes were opened and she finally had a full view in front of her after living following a tunnel vision of the path that until then was chosen for her.

Panther: Well that’s gonna change now that we’re friends ♥

A smile formed on her lips again.

She will have to get used to Anne’s way of saying things. 

She had to admit It was great to become friends with someone so reliable so fast. But Anne was still her kohai, she should be the one supporting her not the other way around, at least that’s what she thought. 

She appreciated her though, Anne could read people’s emotions so well it was no surprise for her that the blonde girl would know just what to say to cheer her up at times like this. Makoto would really like to learn this from her too.

Queen: I guess.

Panther: See you at the station hot-stuff!

“Oh boy.” She sighed in defeat.

There was so much to look up for now. Today was just one of those things.

All she needed to do was be functional to the common cause of her new allies, and everything should be alright. She would remain in this new life she so feverishly feels she belongs to.

_“Was I useful to you all?”_

She remembers that conversation, that afternoon the day they finally stole Kaneshiro’s treasure. In that attic, she felt the weight of the world finally being lifted out of her back. 

No more threatening texts every night, no need to look over her shoulder every time she crossed a street. No need to fear for her sister’s safety either.

She had managed to redeem herself, she finally corrected that infuriating mistake. Getting all of them involved with the mob, just to be rescued by them in the end. She risked all their livehoods just for a dumb moment of desperation.

And then she remembered the feeling of that hand on her shoulders.

That boy, frizzy hair, the sun out the attic window must’ve made her see things since his smile was so bright that it became engraved in her memories like this. And just like that, the smooth tone of his voice cleansed away any regret left on her when he told her…

_“You won’t need to worry about that again.”_

Her emotions were all over the place already, but she didn’t cry. She couldn’t allow them to console her after everything they did for her already. 

But yet another weight that she was not even aware she was carrying was lifted out of her shoulders.

Those words, nobody ever told her that, nobody has worried about her that way for a long time, maybe ever. 

Not even her lovingly father, who wasn’t able to be aware of those burdens were forming over her head since he wasn’t home that much anyway, but how could he, when even she wasn’t fully aware that this pain wasn’t normal... that loneliness, it was all she ever knew.

She hasn't felt so light ever since she was a little child that only needed to worry about getting her favorite toys or chocolate. 

Looking back she felt embarrassed of how spoiled she was as a kid, and how far was she from that now. Regardless of accepting that rebellious side of herself she hid until now, she was still not that good at looking at all the ugly parts of herself. It was so hard to look past through the force of habits to really understand herself fully.

She could only imagine she’ll need input about that from an outside source so she could work on it.

But for now she rejoiced in that warm feeling of not needing to prove herself to anyone else but herself. It was such a simple gift, one that she had longed for so long without really knowing what it was.

She remembers everyone was smiling at her that evening, Anne, Yusuke, Ryuji and Morgana, they all had caring smiles, as if they were proud of her…her!

But she remembers his smile the most of course.

It was warm, safe… she must’ve had such a dumb smile on her face as well.

Then the ringing of her messages notifications brought her out of her sudden stupor.

If she wasn’t blushing at the ‘grandiose’ thoughts she was having just a few seconds ago, she surely was now after seeing the name of the sender.

Joker: Are you guys coming?

Joker: I already found Ryuji, Yusuke will get here soon.

Of course he was there already. If she has learned anything about their leader is that he took compromises very seriously, even if they were just capricious social events like these.

Queen: We’re about to meet at the station, we’ll be there in 15.

Joker: Good! My Ryuji tenure is about to finish, and he’s already starting to reach 70 decibels of loudness.

She laughed to herself just imagining how the scene must be playing out there. Knowing Ryuji, it was probably him complaining about the now defeated exams… or at least she hoped he at least defeated some.

Queen: I’m not Ryuji’s babysitter, that’s your job.

Joker: :(

She couldn’t hold a snicker coming out from this exchange. To be able to just joke like this with him, it was new to her yet it just felt so natural.

She raised her pace and finished dressing, then she heard a voice coming from her apartment living room.

“Makoto?”

“Sis, you’re home already?”

She said from her room.

“Yes, I only came to take a shower and change some clothes.” Sae said, as she seemed to turn the TV on, Makoto couldn’t really hear what she was watching but it was most likely the news. As she always checks if anything about her cases appears on the news whenever she’s home.

“Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything before you go? I can cook something.” Makoto offered, unplugging her phone and getting ready to go.

“…”

“…”

Sae didn’t bother to give her an answer.

Makoto sighed and left her room.

_“regardless of the potential storm coming this evening, the fireworks festival will still take place-“_

“I guess I’ll just work from home tonight instead.” the older Niijima said to herself.

Sae, who was watching the newscast, turned the tv off as she noticed her sister entering the living room. Now having her full attention, Sae raised a brow when she noticed her sister's outfit.

“A Yukata?”

“Oh… I’ll go to see the fireworks with some friends.”

“…”

Sae frowned at her response. She wasn’t expecting this. After all she came home and was making sure she’ll see her sister for the rest of her stay at home. And now that she decided to stay she was going out? 

“What is it?” Makoto noticed her sister’s change in mood and asked, not bluntly, nor defiantly, but peacefully, keeping her cool.

“How were your exams.”

She knew where this was going, she was prepared.

“They were easy enough, no problem at all.” Makoto says, and Sae could swear she noticed her sister was almost puffing with pride.

In the past, she would’ve found this behavior to be just one of her little baby sister adorable traits, and then proceed to tease her about it. But for some reason she wasn’t feeling it right now.

“Good.” Was all Sae could force.

“…”

Makoto started marching towards the door but Sae wasn’t finished.

“Who are these friends of yours?” both stopped their march as they both were turning their backs to each other now.

“They are people from school I started spending time with just a few weeks ago.” Makoto explained.

“Hmm.”

Friends…

Sae knew and expected for Makoto to have acquaintances and friends at her age. After all, she’s working so hard every day so that her little sister could have a possibility to live her life the way she deserves, the way she was meant to live her life.

“You want me to stay?”

Makoto asked, this time bluntly, as if losing her patience for her sister to make up her mind.

“What would be the point of that?”

Maybe Sae didn’t have the energy to confront her about this now, but Makoto knew for sure her sister didn’t like this one bit by just looking at her.

“If that would make you feel better I’ll stay.”

Now she was borderline manipulative, _‘Trying to guilt me into accepting it? Who does she think she is?’_

Sae didn’t lose her cool though.

“What I feel doesn’t matter, you know what I think.”

But she doesn’t, she doesn’t know how much Sae had to sacrifice at her age. How many potential friendships she lost because of her dedication, because of competition, or because of her mere absence. Yet here she was, going out with friends at night as if she had nothing better to do. Nothing better to honor.

Was she really that bad of a guardian? How could Makoto not be aware of this?

Sae closed her eyes and got ready to walk past her sister and head towards her room. Turning the guilt card on her with those simple words she hoped the conversation was over and whatever her little sister did was on her. But Makoto had something to say.

“Regardless of being the start of summer vacations for all students in Japan, I am more than ready to take the university mock exams next week, so I decided I’ll just spend some time with them to relax for a bit today.” She calmly explained.

Sae stopped, she knew her sister’s argument was not needed, Makoto didn’t need to excuse herself. But she did so anyways, because Makoto detected her tired animosity she felt the need to defend herself.

Sae looked at her side with tired eyes, not at Makoto but towards the couches in her living room. There was a small umbrella lying on one of the book holders between the TV and the couch, it hasn’t been used for a while but she was sure it still worked just fine.

“I see.” Sae said “Well, just do whatever you want as long as you can get good results when it matters.”

With that the older sister walks away to her room without saying another word. Not even a goodbye.

“….”

Makoto stood there, absorbing her words.

_‘Show me the results…’_

In the end, it seems there was still a lot to do before she could take all those burdens away from her, a lot to prove. But it was not about Sae, it was not about the recognition, especially not about what she may think is right for her. She needed to prove a lot of many things to herself. If she really wanted to see what she was capable of, if she really wanted to own her future, then…

“I will…”

Makoto walks out heading to the station.

-

After washing her face and looking at herself in mirror, Sae sighted took a look at her phone, it was still early. She expected to have something to drink, maybe even chat with her sister after a while.

But there was no point in that, she had gotten an important clue early in the morning. She also got the green light to do what she needed to do to get what she wanted.

So there was no point in focusing on such mundane things right now.

Sae walked to the empty living room again, taking one last look at the umbrella. She didn’t need it, she had one in her car after all.

Closing her apartment door, she headed towards a familiar coffee shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “There’s an umbrella right there, take it, just in case” – a not petty Sae Niijima would say.
> 
> Seeing someone slowly "distort" and become the worst version of themselves, we see that as the player during Makoto and Sae intimate scenes. But not as Ren, in a roleplaying sense, Ren is completely unaware of Sae's “fall from grace”. Which in a way makes sense, she's in charge of judging his path to that point after all, but what if. Well, that's the reason why this fic exists.
> 
> Edit: I made a quick Illustration for this chapter :3  
> https://twitter.com/necroalx/status/1345191201717235714


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